HAUNTINGS TRILOGY
by J7339
Summary: ALL THREE STORIES FROM THE TRILOGY - REVISED AND NEW MATERIAL AND SCENES ADDED. PLEASE COME AND READ THE NEW BITS
1. FROM THE PAST

**HAUNTINGS TRILOGY  
**

**FROM THE PAST**

**By Jules  
**

** Part One of a Trilogy**

**Author Notes: I tried to iron through some of the mistakes from last time and add some words and take some out - there is some new material but not much plot change - just tried to make it more readable for everyone.**

Aboard the SeaQuest, the deck known as _"C3"_ was designated entirely to scientific research and development. The area was divided into a number of laboratories and work stations on which experiments could be conducted and results correlated together.

In one such work station, the blond head of a young seventeen year old teenager was bent over the lens of a microscope looking intently at the contents of the slides he had just prepared.

The laboratory was quite large and had two exits, one on each side of the room. The room could be made sound proof and sterile by sealing off both doors in a matter of minutes if the situation and need arose.

On one side of the room, a long cylindrical tube came through the room on the right hand side and continued through to the left side of the room, completely dissecting the wall with images of light and water. 

More commonly referred to as an _Aqua Tunnel_. This tube was specifically designed to house the most curious member of the crew and continued throughout most of the vessel where possible.

Occasionally, when one was watching, they would see a shimmer of gray through the water before it disappeared into the next room. This most curious member of the crew was of course, Darwin, a dolphin.

Lucas's concentration did not waver from his project.

When the doors of the room sealed with a quiet hiss, the teenager was unaware that he was now locked in. A silent figure had entered the room and played with the panel beside the door until the doors were shut.

Now the intruder's attention was focused on the boy poised over the microscope. In his pockets he possessed three items, firstly a small brown bottle with clear fluid and a gauze cloth, in the other, a syringe with a sharp point which held contents of a yellowish tinge.

The youth had just gotten excited over his findings and with a sudden shift in position, he had unknowingly switched on the Comm Link which was located on the side of the work bench.

The Comm Link was linked to an intercom system which could be heard in all rooms if necessary and the Bridge. On this occasion, the link went directly to the Bridge.

Captain Nathan Bridger, and his senior crew which included, Commander Jonathan Ford, Chief Crocker, Lieutenant Ben Krieg, Commander Hitchcock, Tim O'Neill, the Communications Officer and Miguel Ortiz, were all in the middle of their routine duties when the sound of static came over the main intercom speaker indicating that a Comm Link had been switched on somewhere on the boat.

The crew were a little confused at first and waited for someone to speak when they heard the voice of Lucas Wolenczak.

"Damn, the Captain, and the crew will never believe this when they see it," he exclaimed excitedly.

The Captain moved in front of Tim O'Neill from where he was standing and pushed a little red button with the letters **_record _**in white lettering on it. He gave a sly smile to all that were watching, and put his fingers to his lips, ushering them to be silent for a moment.

The rest of the senior officers, had thought his odd that the Captain wanted to record any Comm Link conversations. 

Upon seeing the sly smirk on Bridger's face, knew that he was intending to listen to the young wiz kid and record what he was saying, maybe to hold it over him later, jokingly of course.

All of the crew knew what the Captain felt towards the youngest member of the crew. Lucas was like a son to him, and a little brother to the majority of the senior staff. It was hard not to like Lucas, he was the most gentlest, kind hearted and good natured kid any of them had encountered.

Those feelings often led the crew to being more protective over their young charge, although he sometimes rebelled against the choking closeness he would sometimes feel.

"Fifteen hours at this and I am almost finished," Lucas stated to himself.

"Bridger and the Doc will never know that I missed a few hours of sleep or some meals at the Mess Hall. I have been too busy to eat just to get this completed," he continued.

Nathan Bridger silently rolled his eyes and scolded himself for not checking up on the boy earlier. He and most of the crew had been very busy over the last two days, trying to align the new weapons systems for the vessel, and had failed to note that the youngest member had been allowed to go unsupervised for so long.

Lucas didn't need supervision for the reasons most teenagers did, but when it came to sleeping and eating and generally making sure to take care of himself, Lucas was the last person to notice.

If left unchecked, the boy would go for hours without breaks and worst of all, without so much as a bite to eat for hours on end. He was a poor eater to begin with, and needed constant encouragement to make the effort to eat with the rest of the crew.

Commander Ford and Kristin Westphalen almost began to say something to Bridger before he silenced them with a brief hand gesture, signalling he wanted them to remain quiet for a minute.

Kristin Westphalen was not entirely happy about this, as the subject of Lucas's eating habits were most concerning to her, the SeaQuest's doctor. 

She had a professional obligation to ensure that the crew were all healthy and happy. This concern extended to unofficial members of the crew like Lucas. She genuinely loved the young man just as much as Nathan did.

* * *

The dark figure hiding in the laboratory decided that he would now make himself known to his target before carrying out his assigned task. Campbell slowly came out of the shadows of the room and stood where he knew the young man would notice him eventually.

Lucas stopped at the movement and ceased the conversation to himself to see who or what else was in the room. 

Startled, his eyes came to rest upon a large man who was wearing a black wet suit that appeared to be still damp and carrying a small waterproof backpack.

"Who are you and what are you doing in here?" Lucas enquired nervously. 

He knew that if this person was a member of his regular crew, then he would not have been sneaking around the laboratory and would be wearing an official SeaQuest Uniform, not a wet suit.

The Captain and the crew had heard the question, and now wondered in alarm why an unauthorised person would be lurking about the boat. 

Bridger started heading for the door, when he heard...

"My employer requests your personal appearance Lucas, to discuss a proposal with you," the man said. 

"My instructions were to ask you to come immediately and not to take '_No'_ for an answer," he now added with a sneer just to frighten the teenager a little bit.

The unidentified person did not know the conversation was being recorded, and thought that the boy and him were alone. 

He saw no reason to think that his plans would be interrupted or altered in any way, he would take the boy, and it was his intention to take him by force. 

He also saw no reason why he couldn't let the name of his employer slip, just to add to the uneasiness he knew the boy was now feeling.

"Sanderson," the man said with a mocking tone to his voice.

Lucas's reaction to the name was more than he had anticipated and he grinned devilishly and then started to slowly edge his way closer to where Lucas was standing.

_"Sanderson!"_ Lucas said with a sharp intake of breath. 

"No!"

"It can't be. He's dead."

"Who are you and what do you really want?" 

"It can't be true. It can't be true," he repeated, scarecly able to believe what the man had told him.

Lucas had not heard that name in a long time, but the mere mention of it brought back haunting memories that the teenager had tried to bury deep a long time ago.

Lucas had failed to notice that the man was getting dangerously close as he struggled with the name he had heard. 

The bridge crew were now collectively holding their breaths, as they waited to find out what was happening.

All of them wanted to rush to the laboratory to make sure Lucas was not in trouble, but the conversation and the terror they had heard in Lucas's voice, held them in their positions as if frozen.

"Stay away from me!" Lucas shouted as he tried to retreat away from the man approaching him. 

"Don't you touch me! I am not going anywhere with you."

"How did you get on board?" Lucas asked keeping the questions coming and hoping to buy some time, but he wasn't getting any answers. 

The man continued to come closer and closer.

"You can't take me away from here without anybody knowing."

'They know where I am. They will not let you hurt me."

"They will not let you take me away from here." 

His voice was beginning to sound strained by what he was trying to say. 

The boy continued to back away, but then realised he was up against the door to the laboratory.

The man now reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle and gauze, letting his young victim see what he had with an evil gleam in his eyes. 

He soaked the gauze with the liquid from the bottle and placed the both back in his pocket for a moment. He then went into his other pocket, making sure he had Lucas's full attention, and pulled out the loaded syringe.

Lucas had gotten a whiff of the fumes from the bottle and knew what it was, he eyes wide with fright.

He tried to call out for help but his voice was temporarily lost. His gaze now fixated on the man's right hand and what it held, _a syringe._

_"What could be in it?"_

_"What did Sanderson intend to do with him?"  
_  
Lucas promised himself after the last time, he couldn't go through it again. He wouldn't go through it again. 

The nightmares and pain had been too much.

* * *

Campbell was approximately half way across the room now, fast approaching.

Lucas tried to grab the door handle and open it in one movement, but the action didn't work and the door wouldn't open. He was too focused on trying to escape to rationalize that the door was probably locked.

"Help!"

"Somebody help me!"

"Captain Bridger, Ben ...!"

"Help me_ PLEASE_!" 

Lucas pleaded and pulled on the door handle. He was screaming for somebody to help him.

Captain Bridger's heart was in his throat, he was now yelling back into the Comm Link, "Lucas!" 

"Lucas! Who is in there with you?"

"Hold on we are coming, Lucas!"

No answer. 

In his efforts to get away from his attacker and his own shouting, the teenager failed to hear the voice of the one person he was so desperately trying to get to help him.

Lucas suddenly felt a strong arm grip him around his chest, pulling his arms back from the door handle as he continued to yell for help. 

This was immediately cut off by the man placing the retrieved gauze cloth with the pungent fumes over the mouth and nose of the young man. 

Lucas tried hard to struggle. He so desperately wanted to get away from this man.

He couldn't go back to Sanderson.

Sanderson was supposed to be dead. The boy was trying to reassure himself that this was a bad dream and at any moment he would wake up safe.

The fumes now began to overpower his senses and he felt his arms go weak. He no longer seemed to have the strength to release the man's grip. Slowly, his thoughts were clouded and within moments he felt his knees buckle.

The man felt the teenager collapsing, but continued to hold onto him with the cloth still placed firmly over his mouth and nose. 

After a few more seconds, he removed his hand and the cloth from the young man's face, but continued to hold onto him tightly. The boy's body sagged in his grasp and went very limp.

"Nighty Night, he said cruelly laughing at the boy's plight.

* * *

That comment was the one that seemed to release Bridger and his crew from their frozen state and now they were all running at full speed to help Lucas.

The Captain was not a young man anymore, but the thought of Lucas's in the grips of a madman, made his running feat look like to 100 metre final's race at the Olympics.

Ben Krieg closely followed his Captain, and silently swore to himself that if anybody hurt Lucas, then there would be hell to pay.

Commander Ford and Kristin Westphalen's thoughts were along similar lines as they struggled to keep up with Bridger and get to Lucas.

_**Back at the Laboratory:**_

Campbell was supposed to make it look like he was trying to kidnap the boy and take him from the SeaQuest.

Firstly though, he had to make sure he carried out his main task, _the syringe_. 

The man thought briefly where would be the best place to inject the modified drug without any tell tale signs of the injection site.

He wanted to inject Sanderson's virus into the young man, but let it remain a secret until it's effects started working. 

It would take approximately 48 hours for the symptoms of the yellow liquid to start showing. In the mean time, he didn't want to let on to anybody, especially the boy, that something was wrong.

When his employer had asked him to take on the job of killing Lucas Wolenczak, Campbell thought the task would be simple enough. That was until Sanderson insisted that he wanted the death to be drawn out and painful.

Initially, he would make it look like appear like someone else had interest in the boy. Wanted to kidnap him and hold him for ransom and demand money for his safe return.

Another possibility was to make it seem like there were companies willing to pay to use his genius mind for some hideous crime.

The fact was that the drug was intended to make the boy sick for a few days, just make him sick long enough to weaken his immune system, and make the boy too weak to fight off any other attack Sanderson had in mind for him.

Then slowly, very slowly, he would kill him. 

Sanderson wanted to see the young squire's family and friends to see him in a lot of pain. He wanted to inflict both physical and emotional pain. 

And then, when it suited him and only when it suited him, he would kill Lucas Wolenczak.

* * *

Campbell's thoughts were abruptly interrupted with the sounds of violent banging on the locked door. 

He could see faces trying to peer through the porthole window. The man could hear them shouting the teenager's name. 

With the door's securely locked for a few moments, he could afford to take a few more moments.

Quickly and without any resistance from his victim, he placed the syringe inside Lucas's slack jaw and injected the virus into the boy's mouth. 

The youth involuntarily swallowed the substance. The boy did not even flinch at the small sting from the needle. 

Once he was satisfied that the syringe was empty, he capped it and placed the empty needle back into his pocket.

With that task completed, he bent down slightly, picked up the unconscious boy, and placed him over his right shoulder. The boy seemed to weight very little and was no extra burden to the big man.

He crossed to the other side of the room again, and stood at the door and the control panel he had tampered with upon entering. Once again he played with the controls and waited for the doors to release with a loud escape of air.

The man placed the unresponsive boy on the floor just inside the air lock. He placed his fingers on Lucas's neck briefly just to be sure the young man was still breathing.

Good, the boy was unconscious, and the dose of drug he had been given would see him remain quiet for some time to come. At least he was still alive.

Campbell dreaded to think what his employer would do if he had to relay the message that the boy was dead before Sanderson's little game of cat and mouse begun.

Then in haste and before he could be caught, he climbed through the air lock that led from the launch bay. 

He retrieved his face mask, oxygen tank and goggles from their hidden location and proceeded to swim out of the docking bay into the vast sea outside.

* * *

Six people then almost fell through the door to the laboratory onto each other as the door released. 

Once inside, all eyes surveyed the room for one thing - _Lucas._

Once their eyes grew accustomed to the bright light in the room, they spotted what they were looking for.

Commander Ford and Ortiz took on the task of trying to go after the assailant. They had heard the door to the launch bay open and close and proceeded in that direction.

Tim O'Neill took it upon himself to call to Med Bay and call for a medical team and anything else that might aid the situation.

Ben and Nathan were the first to reach the fallen boy.

Lucas lay on his side facing away from them, with his left arm tucked up underneath him. 

Bridger reached out gently and touched him, calling his name, pleading that this boy be alright. 

No response. 

Lucas continued to lay in the drug induced coma.

Ben had also started to call the boy's name, when Kristin finally pushed her way past both of them.

"Let me take a look at him," she said, her stare at both of them read,_"Don't mess with me at the moment"_, and they gratefully let her by.

Kristin called upon all of her professionalism as she gently tried to turn Lucas over. 

"Lucas, can you hear me?"

"Lucas, please wake up," her eyes now glistened with tears.

Lucas never heard their pleas. His mind was far far away, in the midst of past memories that seemed to pull him into the darkness and wouldn't let him go.

Behind the trio, the medical team had arrived with a stretcher and first aid kit.

"What's wrong with him, Kristin? 

"Why won't he wake up? "

"What did he do to him?" Bridger blurted out.

Kristin smiled slight, knowing that Nathan was worried, "Let's get him back to Med Bay and let me do a full examination on him."

"There doesn't seem to be any physical injuries just at the moment," she said understanding the man's concern and keeping the conversation optimistic.

""It looks like he might have been drugged. I won't know too much more until I can take a better look at him." 

The doctor then proceeded to placed two fingers on Lucas's throat, just as the unidentified attacker had done, to gave a silent '_thank you'_ as she felt the steady and continual strong throb of his heart.

The medical team wanted to place the unconscious boy on the stretcher, to take him back the medical lab, but Bridger wasn't haven't any of that.

"I'll carry him," he said with no intentions of arguing the point. The medical team to back off slightly and look to Ben with questioning looks.

"Let Bridger take him," Ben insisted. 

"If he doesn't I will," he added. The medical team just looked at each other and then the Doctor knowing they were not going to win this argument.

Ben assisted the Captain in helping lifting Lucas into his arms. 

Just like for his attacker, Lucas was no burden to Bridger, and he proceeded to hold the boy firmly in his arms, the boy's blond head resting on his shoulder. 

Bridger then started back towards the Med Bay.

Bridger needed the reassurance that Lucas was all right. 

He had still been calling the boy's name to no avail. Somehow he thought he had failed in the role of protector. Lucas had gotten hurt and he hadn't been there to prevent it.

* * *

Once back at the Med Bay, Bridger reluctantly and cautiously laid Lucas down on a waiting bed, to enable Kristin to do her job and help him.

Commander Ford and Ortiz had closely followed the medical team. They had not been able to capture the intruder, but had picked up a clue as to what happened outside the airlock.

"Lucas, can you hear me, Lucas.?" 

Kristin was still trying to arouse the unconscious young man before her, whilst looking over his body for obvious signs of injury.

They removed his sneakers, his jeans, but left his t-shirt and his boxer shorts underwear.

"What's wrong with him Kristin," Nathan asked impatiently.

"He's got no evidence of physical violence, no contusions to the head, no bruising to his body?"

"His body temperature seems to be a little low, so I will cover him with one or two warm blankets while he is in here, just to keep his body heat up. His Blood Pressure seems to be normal.

Just as she proceeded to place the blankets around Lucas to prevent any further drop in body temperature, Commander Ford entered the room holding a small white gauze cloth some distance away from him.

"I think I know why Lucas is unconscious Doctor Westphalen, he stated as he handed her the cloth."

Upon bringing the cloth closer to her nose, she abruptly held it away from her face as Ford had immediately. _Chloroform!_

"This is absolutely soaked in the liquid. No wonder he doesn't respond." 

"I think it is safe to say that Lucas could remain asleep for quite a few hours given the amount of the drug on this cloth."

"There is enough on here to bring down an grown men twice the size of Lucas," Kristen said.

"Now that we know he was drugged, unfortunately we should let it work through his system, and let him sleep it off." 

"We will just keep him warm, and watch him for any nasty or adverse side effects."

"We should probably move him to his room or somewhere a bit more comfortable than the Med Bay, given the number of hours he is probably going to remain sleeping," Kristen commented.

"Will he be alright?" Ben and Bridger chimed in together

"He should be alright, once the Chloroform has worn off."

"I just don't know when that will be. I would suspect that Lucas will sleep through most of tonight anyway," she answered.

"Let's move him into my quarters," Nathan suggested. "I can keep a good eye over him."

Nathan saw that the crew were looking at him and knew that he wanted this for both his benefit as well as for Lucas.

"All right Captain, but just for tonight," Kristin agreed. "I will check on him during the night and again in the morning," she added. 

"Call me if anything changes or he begins to wake up, immediately".

"I will," Bridger promised.

Ben bid Good Night to the Captain, the doctor and fellow crew members before walking over to where Lucas lay sleeping and gently placed a hand on his forehead, and affectionately brushed the hair to one side. Lucas didn't stir. 

Ben tried to give a wry smile, but knew that he was angry inside to see his friend like this. "See you in the morning Lucas", and went back to his cabin.

Captain Bridger, tucked the woollen blankets around the boy, generally acting like a mother hen, and then hoisted the young man back into his arms and went to walk to his own quarters. 

"Goodnight Kristin" he said glancing back. 

His thoughts for the moment were for the silent figure snuggled in his embrace.

* * *

Bridger kicked the door open with his foot and entered his cabin still carrying the sleeping boy. He gently laid the young man down on his own bunk, making sure that his efforts were not enough to jostle the youth too much.

The Captain would cheered for joy if he could only get a response from Lucas. He would be happy with a grunt or a groan, a movement of his eyelids... anything. But to no avail, Lucas remained enclosed in his cocoon unaware of the outside world.

The time seemed to tick by ever so slowly for the remainder of the night and Bridger reluctantly fell asleep on a hard chair seated next to Lucas. His shoulders were slumped and his head was bent forward towards his chest, he was emotionally drained.

A few times during the night, he had awoken with a start and thought for a moment that Lucas had made a sound or noise, but the boy remained deeply asleep and oblivious to the concern shown by the Captain.

* * *

The Captain's alarm clock suddenly whirred into life at 6.00am, jolting Bridger from what had been a peaceful hour's sleep. He slammed his hand down angrily on the top of the clock until he remembered that Lucas was still in the room. His gaze shifted and his mumblings about the clock soon evaporated.

Lucas seemed to be in the same position he had been in all night. The blankets remained securely about his shoulders probably from the lack of movement throughout the night.

Bridger stood up and tried to stretch his muscles from the position they had become knotted in.

Just as he was about to walk out of the room to find Kristin and a cup of coffee, a noise from the bed made him stop.

Nathan quickly grabbed Lucas's sleep limp hand and watched with great anxiousness to see if he had heard the young man beginning to stir. His patience was rewarded with the eyelids of the youth starting to flutter.

"Lucas, please wake up," Bridger encouraged soothingly. "Please let me know you are alright."

Lucas could hear a familiar voice, but it seemed to be a long way away and he couldn't quite hear what it was saying. He tried to open his eyes, but they seemed to be bolted down and refused to open.

Lucas now tried to use what little strength he had, and pooled all of his thoughts into one. With a mammoth effort, he managed to get his eyes open to very thin slits. They quickly closed again in protest to the light that stabbed into them from the bright lights.

He tried to use his voice to ask the other presence in the room to ask him what happened and what the license plate number was on the truck that ploughed into him.

He tried to reopen his eyes, but only managed them to slits again. This time they seemed to tolerate a small amount of light. His throat burned from thirst and for one strange moment he thought he could taste blood in his mouth.

He tried to gesture with his hands for a drink of water and found a cup placed gently under his chin with a hand lifting his head from the pillow allowing him to swallow.

"Lucas, are you all right?" 

Please let me know how you are feeling," Bridger continued, asking a steady stream of questions to the boy, but they went unanswered.

Lucas's head felt like someone was on the inside trying to get out with a sledge hammer. Any movement he made with his head only resulted in shocking stabs of pain through his skull. He winced aloud at the pain and once again found his throat very dry and unable to form any words.

Even though he had only just opened his eyes, these efforts seemed to be overwhelming and his short burst of strength was now totally spent. 

With the continual pounding in his head, the burning sensation that the light in the room brought to his eyes and the residual effects of the chloroform, his eyelids once again closed and he seemed to be losing his slim grasp on consciousness.

"No! Lucas, stay with me please."

"Stay awake Lucas!" Bridger was now speaking loudly to the boy without realising it. 

However, his pleading had been in vain as he watched the youth before him once again fall into the darkness and beyond the reach of the people who loved him.

Lucas had heard the requests, but was unable to stop his slide back into unconsciousness. The boy's head now fell to the side and his jaw became slack, his breathing deepene and evened out signalling that he was already asleep again.

The Captain was just about to race down to Med Bay and get Kristin, when the very person who he was looking for came into his quarters.

"Kristin," he began. 

"Lucas just woke up, but only briefly. I tried to keep him awake to come and get you, but he just seemed to stare at me and then went back to sleep."

Kristin Westphalen now walked over to the bed, looking down at her young patient, "Good morning, Nathan."

"I was just coming to see if he was awake. Don't worry, he is bound to be tired for the rest of today anyway until the effects of the drug work out of his system."

The doctor proceeded to place her stethoscope to Lucas's chest and listen to his heart beat and then placed her fingers on the inside of his wrist to check his pulse. She smiled when she saw how innocent Lucas looked while he slept and she shuddered a little when she thought how close they had come to losing him to some madman.

"Let's keep him here just until he wakes sufficiently to know he is safe. Tell the rest of the crew to keep the noise down a little around your quarters," Kristin suggested. 

"I will check up on him regularly just to make sure he's alright, but other than that, it's all up to Lucas now."

"Who was the person in the laboratory that tried to kidnap him?" she asked.

"Commander Ford and Ortiz said that after they tried to follow him, the person escaped through the launching bay. He must have had scuba gear and there was no sign of any craft to take him away from the SeaQuest," Bridger answered.

"Why would someone try and hurt Lucas?" she questioned. 

"Lucas has never hurt anybody in his life. It's not fair to see him like this Nathan, it just isn't right," she said angrily.

"I know how you feel Kristin, believe me, the rest of the crew and me feel the same way. Ben is ready to go on a hunting expedition, and everybody else has just been just as angry about this as you and I," Bridger continued, placing a reassuring hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"You'd better get some rest yourself, Nathan," she now added and she walked towards the door. "Let me know the minute there is any change.".

"You know I will," he said with a tired smile.

* * *

Bridger decided that before he tried to get some more sleep, he would indeed help himself to that elusive cup of coffee, just to make him feel a little human again.

He closed that door ever so quietly and then headed towards the mess hall.

His entry into the mess hall only succeeded in bringing looks from his crew that seem to bore right into his soul looking for the answers. He tried to avoid the looks at first, pretending he didn't see them and went about pouring the coffee into a small china cup. 

The Captain looked at the food offered for breakfast and decided against it, his stomach was still twisted into knots and probably wouldn't appreciate genetically engineered eggs or bacon.

He sat down at the table with his senior crew and looked into the curious faces of Chief Crocker, Benjamin Krieg, Commander Ford and Katie Hitchcock. It may well as been the entire crew of the SeaQuest, for the looks were intense and anxious.

"He's alright," he started to explain. 

"Lucas woke up for a minute, but is now resting again. Kristin has taken another look at him and said just to let him rest for as long as he needs."

The crew seated with him collectively relaxed slightly.

"Commander Ford, you have the bridge today, I'm going to try to get a few more hours of shuteye. Please inform the rest of crew to keep the noise down around my quarters, to avoid waking Lucas," Bridger stated.

"No problem Captain, Sir," Ford answered. 

"Anybody waking Lucas before he is well enough will have to answer to me. Do you think a guard outside you door would be prudent, Captain, under the circumstances?" he asked.

"No, let's not go that far just for the moment Commander. I know you are worried about security on this boat since this event, but it may only serve to make Lucas more nervous after his ordeal, should he see people watching him all the time."

"Let's just take it slow, and try and treat Lucas as normally as possible over the next few days. I'm sure we would all like to know what he is feeling and find out more about his attacker, and the conversation we overheard, but for now, let's just concentrate on getting Lucas well again and being there for him." 

"He may not be willing to give much information about the attack. Lucas tries harder than anybody I know to hide his feelings and emotions, especially when he is frightened. Lucas has to make the first step," Bridger continued to say to his crew reassuredly. 

He knew they were all worried about Lucas, but confronting him too soon or the wrong way may be more harmful than good.

With this, Bridger now yawned loudly and said excused himself from the table and went back to his quarters. The coffee cup was still full, somehow it tasted bitter than ever this morning.

* * *

It was approximately 11 am before Lucas gave any indication that he was waking again.

Bridger had returned to his quarters and laid down on the visitor's couch and proceeded to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. He did not hear the sounds that showed Lucas beginning to stir.

Lucas slowly became of his surroundings, and opened his eyes. At first, he seemed to forget where he was and what had happened. He looked about him and saw that the Captain, was asleep on the couch in the room. He wondered at first, why he was in the Captain's bunk.

He thought at first it might be that he had been talking to the Captain and had just fallen asleep.

Then, with horrific speed, the events of the previous day suddenly became very real in this mind. His eyes suddenly were the size of saucers from fright and he remembered the man who had attacked him. His head still protested at any movement with a pounding headache, but at this particular point in time, with his senses on full alert, Lucas forgot all about his physical pain, his weakness from the drug and lethargy he felt from being asleep for so long.

The teenager suddenly jumped off the bed, looking around wildly in the room for his assailant, unsure if the man was still around. His thoughts about what had happened, his last desperate feelings of having to escape somehow were rekindled.

With a rush of adrenaline, he tried to run to the door of the Captain's quarters. Dizziness plagued him from getting up too quickly, but didn't prevent him from staggering to the steel, air locked hatch door.

Bridger who had been blissfully unaware that his young friend had awoken with such fright, was jerked awake from the sound of Lucas's attempts to flee the room.

Lucas managed to get the door open before the Captain could make a grab for him.

The Captain hadn't been thinking about Lucas's mental state, just the fact that the boy was awake and out of bed, when he should be resting. He proceeded to place a hand upon the boy's shoulder as the young man tried to take flight.

Lucas's reaction to the hand on his shoulder was immediate and devastating. He boy let out a yell that could be heard all over the boat and somehow willed his body to try and move even faster.

Lucas was trying to run with everything he had, but only ended up barrelling into a very confused doctor Westphalen, sending both of them tumbling onto the floor outside the Captain's quarters.

"Lucas, what are you doing out of bed?" she asked scoldingly, until she saw the frightened look on the boy's features. She tried to grab a hold of him also, but was not quick enough and Lucas was once again on his feet, trying to flee in case his attacker returned.

"Wait, Lucas! Stop!" 

"Where are you going?" Kristin continued calling out to the disappearing Lucas. 

Bridger had just managed to make it outside his door when he saw what had happened. He also had tried to grasp the frightened boy before he could run again, but also was not quick enough.

_'Got to get away',_ his thoughts kept telling Lucas. 

_'If you stop running, he is going to get you.' _ Sanderson will get you. _Sanderson ... Sanderson_.

The Captain had helped the doctor stand and they both now were trying to follow Lucas before he could hurt himself any further. They knew he was scared. Now they were trying to run after him.

Lucas had managed to make it a further 50 metres down the decking corridor, before diving into a undisclosed cabin to hide. He shut the door and was too busy getting his breath back to notice who's cabin he had run into.

The adrenaline rush was gone and he was quickly tiring again. His breathing was coming in short and raspy gasps. He couldn't seem to get enough oxygen into his lungs.

The person who was in the cabin, stared at the back of the young man for a minute. 

Lucas has unbeknowningly entered the cabin of his best friend Ben Krieg. The Lieutenant saw Lucas enter and was alarmed at the pale, sweating face of his friend and noted how the boy was trembling.

Ben startled Lucas by doing the same action as Bridger, placing his hand upon his shoulder, and the reaction was the same. 

This time however, although there was the blood chilling scream. Lucas didn't have the strength to run, his body just wouldn't move and he was forced to curl up into a tight ball on the floor, hoping to be swallowed up.

"Lucas, Oh I'm sorry buddy, I didn't mean to frighten you like that," Krieg said soothingly to his young friend. 

"What are you doing out of Med Bay? Are you alright now? Has the doctor seen you yet?"

Krieg's questions went unanswered. Ben felt useless, and knelt down beside the still shaken boy and try and reassure him that we was safe. After what had happened to him, the teenager's reaction was totally understandable.

Ben pulled Lucas away from the doorway, and started to lead him to his own bunk to sit down. 

He managed to signal to Bridger and Westphalen outside in the corridor, where the young man was. Lucas didn't offer much of an explanation and was now exhausted from the running, and still not being very well.

Lucas looked up at the two people entering the cabin, and then looked at the person who had been comforting him, instantly recognizing them and now feeling very stupid and foolish for running like he had.

"Sorry, Captain. I'd didn't mean to run. It's just that ..." and left the sentence incomplete.

"Kristin, I'm sorry I ran into you. Are you hurt? Sorry ..."

"Ben, thanks, I'm sorry I reacted the way I did when you touched me, and you Captain," Lucas said in apology. 

The young man's face was still pale, his heart was still slamming into his rib cage, but he relaxed a little, knowing that people were there he knew and trusted.

"You don't have to be sorry," Ben said to Lucas, trying to convince that youth that every thing was alright.

"Do you want to talk about it, Lucas?" Kristen asked, already knowing the response.

"No," came the short reply. 

He did not want to talk about it because that meant he had to remember Sanderson and he dreaded that. He could barely hold in his fear and anxiety when he thought about that man.

A shudder from him, drew the attention to the adults in the room, and they knew that the young man was not wanting to remember anything of what had happened yesterday.

"Okay, Lucas, you don't have to talk. If you are feeling alright, I will just give you a quick look over to make sure you feel fine and you can go and have something to eat," Kristin said in a very gentle voice.

She knew that Lucas was far from well, but forcing him to rest would only make things worse. They needed to get some normality back on the boat and getting Lucas to start eating would a good step in that direction.

Bridger was about to protest about not talking to Lucas more about his attacker. 

One look at the good doctor, claws out, ready to strike down any person who dared to tell her different, told him to keep his comments to himself for the time being.

"Come on, kiddo," Ben said trying to sound a little cheery and lighten the mood in the room. "I'm starving, how about you?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, "I could eat a little." His stomach was protesting and told him he could probably eat a lot.

"Just take it slow, Lucas," Kristen warned him. "That chloroform will still be wearing off".

Lucas didn't even want to acknowledge that he had been drugged with_chloroform_, and just gave the doctor a small nod to signal he heard her words.

Before any more uneasy scenes started to play out, he quickly got up from Ben's bunk and gestured to Krieg to follow him for breakfast. Bridger and Westphalen were left in the Lieutenant's quarters to ponder.

* * *

"He's clamming right up, Nathan," she said. 

"He doesn't want to even acknowledge that he was attacked. Did you see how frightened he was?" she continued in a concerned voice?"

"Yeah, that was partly my fault," Bridger explained. 

"I should have known better than to come up behind him like that, but all I saw was him trying to leave. He is still not very well, but he won't admit it."

With that, the two of them also left the cabin. The two of them decided it was best that they left Lucas alone with Ben for awhile.

Even though both were very worried, at least Lucas seemed to relax a little in the Lieutenant's company. They would let him have breakfast in peace and try to sought out his problems later.

When Ben and Lucas entered the mess hall for breakfast, they too felt all eyes upon them, inquisitive and intense, just like it had been earlier with Captain Bridger.

Ben glared back at the crowd wanting them to leave Lucas alone. He knew they were all worried, but Lucas had also seen the looks, and wanted to back track and not entertain any notion to talk to his fellow crew members.

It was only due to the fact that Ben was standing directly behind him, almost propelling him forward that prevented Lucas from taking off in a run again to escape.

Breakfast tasted like cardboard to Lucas. It seemed to have no meaning other than keeping Ben happy by watching him eat it. His eyes still held a haunted look. The dark rings of fatigue had started to reappear underneath the boy's sky blue eyes.

Trying to break the ice a little, Ben tried to inject some form of normality back into Lucas's world with trivial conversation about who was seen with who aboard the boat. 

What new contraband Ben was able to obtain from his contacts if Lucas wanted. He offered new computer components, dates with girls, tickets to sporting events and of course, more girls.

Finally, trying anything, he started asking for Lucas's assistance to plan a bash for the other members of the crew. Drinks, Party Food, Old Movies, Popcorn - _microwaved after being freeze dried_ and plenty of fun.

"You pick out the movies, Lucas," Ben said trying to sound excited. 

"I'll get O'Neill to pick out the music and Ortiz to organize some tables and chairs in the senior staff lounge for tonight. If we are lucky, we might even be able to drag Commander Ford away from his mundane existence for a few hours." 

"Lord knows he could use a good night on the town. How about it Lucas?".

Lucas raised his head to look at Ben for a moment, and Krieg thought he had failed until he saw the shadow of a smirk on the young man's face.

"You're going to let O'Neill pick the music, Ben?" Lucas spoke. 

"What did we all do to deserve that?" he laughed. The laugh was very false but Ben Krieg though it was the best sound he had heard all day.

With breakfast over, Lucas tried to shut out the events of yesterday by throwing himself into the task of helping Ben plan this party. He knew that if he stopped to think, even for a brief period of time, ghosts and demons from the past would soon interrupt his mind once again. 

He hadn't forgotten what had happened, just the opposite, he couldn't forget, but he also didn't think that he had the right to burden any of his friends with it.

The day dragged on, and it seemed everywhere Lucas turned, he saw people looking at him. He knew that they were watching him, waiting for him to break, waiting for the first tear to fall. 

The teenager was determined that he wouldn't do that in front of the people he considered a second family.

Lucas's own family had deserted him a long time ago and from then on, the boy knew that he had to rely on himself and only himself to get through this world. If he let himself trust too many people, even close friends, then all he was doing was setting himself up for more heartache.

Commander Ford had tried to keep Captain Bridger's mind off Lucas during the day as well, and decided that the best way was to get the Captain heavily involved with what was happening on the Bridge.

"Captain, Mr Ortiz and Chief Crocker are making sure that all security measures are now at full operating capacity," Ford started to say. 

"We have checked all the weapons decks, the restricted areas, the staff living quarters and Bridge just to make sure that all is well. Nobody should be able to get in or out of this vessel without us knowing now, Captain," Ford continued.

Captain Bridger had listened to Ford's speech, trying to sound interested. Upon hearing the final sentence, he couldn't help but make a comment. 

"Pity that these measures could not have worked properly yesterday, Commander," Bridger said with disgust. He was not unhappy with Ford. He knew that the Commander often took over when Bridge on many occasions in the past.

* * *

As afternoon began to turn into evening, most crew members aboard the SeaQuest were looking forward to the party to end all parties that Krieg had been planning.

Lucas had done his assigned task and picked out a few old movies: oldies but goodies. The tiredness that he had felt earlier now grew tenfold and he feared that if he stood still for more than a few moments, he would be asleep on his feet.

Over the last few hours, his headache had returned with renewed momentum and his throat had been so dry at times that he found himself drinking water as though he were a camel. His skin became very itchy and chalky and irritating to touch. His eyes burned and looked like road maps they were so bloodshot.

His condition had not gone totally unnoticed, especially by Doctor Westphalen, but he found himself continually telling those concerned that he was okay and would soon take to his bed to get a good night's sleep. The little white lie seemed to taste bitter sweet in his mouth. Sleep was the first thing he probably needed, but the last thing we wanted.

By 9.00pm the party was in full swing. Everybody who attended seemed to be enjoying themselves. Only the senior crew members, and those thought necessary had been informed about what happened to Lucas the previous day, so most of the crew were just out to have a good time. 

Parties were very rare aboard the SeaQuest, and so they were making the best of it.

Bridger and Kristin Westphalen had attended about an hour ago, sampling some of the weird concoctions that Krieg and Ortiz had laid on the tables. Devilled eggs, cheese, crackers and various other finger foods adorned the checkered table cloth.

Both the Captain and the Doctor had only really attended the party just to keep things under control. They knew what Ben's intentions had been when he suggested the party, and inwardly thanked the Lieutenant for taking things into his own hands concerning Lucas.

Upon surveying the room, they saw Lucas perched on a couch next to Krieg, watching a movie called _'Terminator'_. The movie had been made many years ago, but an action flick was called for tonight and all who were watching, seemed to enjoy it.

The party seemed to be going quickly and soon a number of the party goers started says their _'goodnights'_ to everyone and making excuses of having be on duty early the next morning.

The room was almost empty with the exception of Bridger, Westphalen, Krieg, O'Neill, Ortiz and Hitchcock. All had forgotten about a certain blond headed boy for a few minutes due to the continual stream of well wishers.

Bridger suddenly wanted to know where their young friend was. He surveyed the room and his eyes soon rested upon a most heart wrenching site.

On the couch, curled up, with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped protectively around his knees was Lucas. His blond head rested upon the arm of the couch and his face was poised in deep slumber.

The other people in the room soon saw what the Captain had been looking at, and each of their hearts also missed a beat at the scene. The boy looked so alone. Too young to have gone through something like a kidnapping attempt.

Kristin was the first person to approach the sleeping form. She gently checked him over with her eyes and with her hands where she could. She did not want to wake the boy, and so went about doing her doctoring duty as best she could with an unwilling patient.

"Let's move him to a nice warm bed for the night," she suggested. 

"Nathan, I hate to impose for another night, but it would be best if someone could keep an eye on him?" she asked. 

She knew that the Captain would have jumped at the chance, but also saw that Nathan was looking somewhat peaked himself.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Doctor," he announced.

They pondered how best to pick up Lucas, to avoid waking him, but decided any way they did it probably wouldn't make the boy stir very much. Exhaustion was etched on the young face, the dark circles had become darker and his skin seemed awful pasty in colour.

Once again, Bridger found himself nudging his cabin door open with Lucas nestled in his arms. He didn't mind one bit. He would not have been able to sleep anyway if Lucas were put in his own bed. He would be constantly getting up and checking on him.

* * *

Approximately 1am that morning, Bridger was awoken to low moaning sounds from Lucas. The boy seemed to be entangled in the bedclothes and had a fine sheen of sweat about his brow.

Bridger gently laid a hand on the boy's forehead and almost pulled it back in haste when he felt the heat radiating from the boy. The Captain's own heart was now missing a beat, hoping and praying in vain that whatever demons sought Lucas were not about now.

He quickly went to his desk and pressed his PAL communicator, attempting to page Kristin.

A sleepy and annoyed voice answered the Captain's plea to answer at such an ungodly hour of the morning.

"Nathan, what in the world possesses you to wake up good honest people at this hour?" Kristin said to her own PAL communicator.

"Kristin, I think we have a problem. Could you please come in here?" he said. He did not add what the problem was, but hoped the urgency in his voice was enough to get Kristin's attention.

The doctor's attention was now alerted. "Lucas!" she blurted out suddenly, with a sudden intake of breath. 

"What's wrong, is he having nightmare's already?" she asked.

"No, I think it's a little more urgent than that Kristin. Please come immediately," Bridger requested.

Bridger felt he had only finished his sentence when he heard the knock on his steel door. Kristin hadn't waited for Nathan to open the door, and proceeded to barge into his quarters without even blinking.

She rushed over to the sleeping young man and noticed immediately that his disposition had changed considerably from when she had last seen him.

The young man was now very restless in his sleep, moaning and fighting with an invisible enemy, tearing at the bed sheets. His entire body was now burning hot to the touch. She tried to rouse him from his slumber, but the moaning only got louder to her attempts.

"No, get away from me," Lucas whispered in his tangled dreams. 

"Sanderson ... No he can't be alive.. ... I can't go back ... _Sanderson ._. ... You're supposed to be dead ..._Nooooooo_."

Kristin took the young man's body temperature and gasped aloud at the reading ... 101 degrees. She showed the thermometer to the Captain who also paled when he read the results.

"This fever shouldn't be the result of the Chloroform, Nathan," Kristin said to him clearly concerned. 

"There has to be another cause to this high temperature," she continued.

"What can we do?" Bridger said hurriedly. 

"We have to cool him down, he is going to cook at this rate." The Captain placed his hand once again on the boy's forehead to confirm his theory.

"I'll need to take a blood sample and analyse it. I can't remember any strains of flu going around the boat lately, have you?"

"No, not that anybody has mentioned," Bridger answered.

Their thoughts about the cause were temporarily interrupted from another moan from Lucas, who continued to struggle against an unseen enemy.

Kristin raced to her surgery to obtain a vial of medication and two empty syringes and sample tubes. She returned to find the situation the same as she had left it, a very sick young man and a very worried Captain Bridger.

She moved in front of Nathan and proceeded to prepare Lucas's arm for the sample of blood to be taken. She swabbed the area with a small cotton ball and alcohol, then without seeing if there would be any objections, inserted the needle into the boy's white skin.

It took a few seconds for the blood to collect in the sample tubes, but when she was satisfied that she had sufficient samples from the two tubes, she removed the needle carefully and asked the Captain to hold a cotton ball over the injection site until the blood flow stopped.

Kristin then placed a small amount of liquid in the second syringe and the injected this substance into the other arm of Lucas. 

When Bridger looked at her questioningly, she explained, "It's an antibiotic, to help fight whatever is making him sick."

"Until the fever is down, we need a few people on roster to help get his temperature down. Know anyone who might volunteer?" she asked.

Nathan didn't even need to be asked, but Kristin insisted that there be more than one person to help.

The Captain then proceeded to wake Miguel Ortiz, Katie Hitchcock and Benjamin Krieg to ask for temporary nurses.

Ben Krieg took the first watch with the Captain. They proceeded to make up cold compresses as instructed by the doctor and place then on Lucas's brow and over the rest of his body.

"How much more can he take?" Ben said bitterly. 

"How could this poor kid, and the best damn friend I ever had, be so sick after everything else that has happened?"

Kristin laid a comforting hand on Ben's shoulder, trying to reassure the Lieutenant that Lucas would be alright.

"He needs time, Ben," she said. 

"With all that has happened over the last two days, the kidnapping attempt, the stress, the lack of food and sleep. His body just cannot take anymore at the moment. He is exhausted, both physically and emotionally. He is close to hitting rock bottom."

"But," and she made sure she held Ben's attention to say this, "He needs all of us to be strong for him. Be the crutch to lean on until all of this ugly mess if over. Can you do that for him, Ben?"

"Sure, Doc," I am sorry for the way I sound. "I'm just angry and worried for him right now."

"We all are," Kristin said with her own eyes getting moist.

Kristin had left Lucas in the capable care of Ben and Nathan for the remainder of the night.

Now as dawn approached, she went about joining Katie for their turn at helping their young friend.

Katie and Kristin laughed softly at the sight they came across. Nathan and Ben were seated on opposite sides of Lucas's bed, both with their heads on the bed, both snoring loudly, both very tired and sound asleep.

Their attention was drawn to Lucas, who was awake, looking at his two nurses, trying to laugh, but making a lousy attempt.

His eyes came to rest of the two women as they walked over to him. His eyes were still very hazy looking and his colour seemed to be worse if that were possible.

Kristin took the fact that he was awake as a good omen, but frowned when she leant forward and placed her hand on the boy's forehead. The temperature had not gone down at all. It didn't seem to be higher, but sweat was pouring off Lucas, making his skin look very glossy and very sickly.

"How are you feeling, Lucas?" she proceeded to ask.

"Tired ... doctor. Tired and very hot," was the answer from Lucas.

"I'm not surprised," she responded. "I wish there was something more I could do for you to ease the discomfort."

"Do you know why you got sick?" she asked just on the off chance Lucas knew the cause.

"No," he said simply. "I still felt tired all of yesterday, but it was only after the party started, that my throat began to burn and my eyes began to sting."

"Can I have a drink of water?" he asked.

"Of course," Katie Hitchcock said, jumping to fill a glass from the pitcher that was sitting on the Captain's night stand.

"Here you go, Lucas," she said gently.

Lucas thought that the water tasted great, it seemed to quench the thirst he felt and appeared to douse the flames that rose from inside his body.

"Thanks," was his response along with a candid smile.

He now tried to lay back on the pillow. He wanted the merry-go-round that his brain was on to stop and let him off. He wanted to be swallowed up by the darkness and let the headaches, the stiffness in his joints and the heat from the fever leave him alone.

The young man's eyelids drooped, although he tried to stay awake. He was fighting a losing battle. Lucas didn't feel the second shot of antibiotics that the doctor injected into his arm.

Nathan and Ben had awoken just as Lucas was drifting off again. They were both surprised to see Kristin and Katie standing beside the bed and wondered how long they had been asleep.

"Why don't you two go and get some proper rest?" Kristin suggested. 

"He will probably be asleep again for a few hours again."

* * *

The next two days and nights were a blur to the senior crew as they tried to juggle their duties to the SeaQuest with the need to help with the roster helping care for Lucas.

Lucas's temperature remained high, and his restlessness only seemed to abate when the boy was totally exhausted and had nothing left to give. It was very painful for his friends to watch, not able to help more.

Kristin had spent long hours, when not with Lucas, at testing his blood samples for a clue as to the cause of his fever and a probable cure. She analysed the samples over and over again, checking and rechecking. It wasn't until she was about to give up totally that she spotted something very unusual in the last sample.

She now hit the Comm Link in the laboratory and summonsed the Captain to view her findings.

Nathan had hurried to see what the results could mean. He was reluctant to leave Lucas, but he desperately wanted to know how to help the young man some more.

Upon reaching the laboratory, he spotted Kristin gesturing for him to come and look at the sample she had just tested. He peered into the lenses trying to look for a clue, trying to see the virus that was making Lucas sick.

"You see those small yellowish cells on the slide, Captain?" she asked. Bridger nodded and waited for her to explain more.

"Those cells are contaminated," she continued. "Contaminated by a substance that is very rare and not well known any more."

Bridger's curiosity and impatience was getting the better of him. "Just tell me Kristin," he said a little too short. 

"The contaminate is a strain of virus that was around long before you and I were born. This particular strain of virus had been around since the 1950's and 1960's. It used to reek havoc on populations about thirty years ago. But with the advancement of medicine through the years, a cure was thought to have been found."

"A vaccine was invented and proved to work for a great number of years. It seems that somehow, someone has gotten hold of this particular virus and genetically altered it. Just enough to make it immune to any of the antibiotics that I have been using." 

Kristin waited to see what the Captain's reaction was to this information.

"How does a seventy year old virus appear on my ship out of nowhere, Kristin?" he asked sceptically.

"I don't know, but I am sure of the test results," she replied.

Their conversation was interrupted with Katie appearing at the door to the lab, asking that they come back to check on Lucas.

They all raced back to the young man, fearful of what had happened. Their worries were quickly dispelled when Kristin examined Lucas's heart and pulse, checked his temperature and noted his skin colour.

Lucas's skin was no longer a sick pasty white. His temperature was just a little above normal, signalling that the fever had broken, his pulse was steady and his breathing now regular and quieter. They all sighed aloud with thanks to the Gods.

"He's seems to be a lot more at ease now," Kristin began. 

"His fever seems to have broken and his body is now taking time out to replenish and rejuvenate."

Kristin rubbed her tired eyes and relaxed for the first time in almost a week. She noted that the Captain now had the slightest hint of a smile upon his face as he realised that the person he dearly cherished, was going to get better.

Katie had a smile also and quickly added, "I'll go tell the rest of the Bridge and Ben that he is on the mend."

"Thanks, Katie," I appreciate that. 

"Let some of us get some much needed sleep and let our young patient get some rest too." 

She continued to beam down at the sleeping form who seemed to defy all obstacles placed before him.

* * *

When Lucas awoke this time, the first thing he noticed was that his head was not pounding and he could move a little without fear of stabbing pain. He gingerly opened his eyes, tried to move his stiff joints, and tried for the first time in days to sit upright on the bed.

"Whoa,... where do you think you going, young man?" Bridger asked Lucas, attempting to restrict his movements.

"I feel better this morning Captain," he said. "I need to get up and stretch, I feel as if I have been lying down for days." 

This brought an astonished look from his friend, didn't the boy know who sick he had been over the last four days. Had he not been aware of the fever burning within him.

"You don't remember the last few days?" was all Bridger could manage to get out once he got over the initial shock.

"No? Should I?" Lucas asked innocently.

"The last thing I remember is going to sleep on the couch at Krieg's party last night," Lucas stated.

"Lucas, it has been four days since Krieg's party," Bridger told him.

"What! ... How... When ...," Lucas stammered, not believing what he had heard.

"You have been a very sick boy, Lucas," the Captain said. "The crew has been very concerned about you. We had a roster of nurses scheduled each night just to take care of you."

The captain's door burst open, and in stepped Kristen, followed by Katie, Ben and Commander Ford. All were relieved to see Lucas sitting upright and talking to Bridger.

"Glad to see you awake again," Ben Krieg announced loudly with a grin. 

"How's it going Lucas?" the Lieutenant asked, not being one to hold back.

"Fine, Ben, just fine," Lucas answered. "Have I really been sick for four days, Ben?" he asked sheepishly.

"Yeah, kid, but you are going to be all right now," he replied. "Ain't that right, Doc?"

"Let me do the diagnosis please, Lieutenant," Kristin interjected. 

"Even if he says he feels better, his body has been through a lot and needs to rest."

This brought a over exaggerated groan from Lucas, but a smile from Bridger and the others. 

"Can't I please just sit up for a while, Kristin," he pleaded. 

"I feel like a dried up piece of toast that somebody forgot to throw out. I really need to have a shower and get something to eat.

Kristin couldn't have been happier at this statement, and reluctantly said that as long as he took things easy, he could have his shower and then sit down to a nice meal.

Lucas found himself improving health wise for the remainder of the day. He was acutely aware again that his shadows were doing their best to follow him without being noticed.

Kristin and Katie were hopeless at the task, trying to look inconspicuous, but if Bridger and Krieg were trying to be spies for a foreign country, Lucas felt sure he would be defecting.

Bridger had made more open attempts for the rest of the day to see how Lucas was fairing, trying to gauge any stay feelings, any signs of relapse. Anything Lucas didn't want to share, the boy managed to keep under his hat.

He could truly be a master of disguise if it suited him, and due to the dark thoughts that had been surfacing during the day, he made extra sure that his feelings remained locked away.

Kristin had come up to him throughout the day, checking his temperature and pulse. While he appreciated their efforts and concern, it really was beginning to annoy him just a little.

Late in the afternoon, he had sought the sanctuary of his cabin for some solitude. Away from the prying eyes and the poking fingers. His body was beginning to show signs of fatigue again. He flatly refused to go back to sleep upon various requests, but now was running out of excuses and steam.

Lucas had managed to keep himself entertained for the majority of the afternoon and had been very happy surfing the Internex, trying to find out what had been going on in the world since becoming sick. He even came across some great scientific seminars that were being advertised during the time of the next shore leave. 

He was trying to think of an excuse to tell the Captain in order to attend, but his mind was getting fuzzy and thick from lack of sleep.

Bridger lightly tapped on the door to Lucas's quarters less than 15 minutes later, when making one of his umpteen visits for the day. The Captain found Lucas sound asleep over the top of his keyboard. 

He silently sighed to himself and proceeded to place the boy in his bed, tucking him under a warm blanket. He looked back at the teenager on his way out, content with that thought that at least for one night, Lucas may get some sleep.

* * *

Over the next few days, things seemed to return to almost normal. Routine seemed to be taking over the SeaQuest once again. But then, just when they thought it was safe to assume that there was no longer any threat ...

Lucas had been sitting at the keyboard of his console on the Bridge for six hours now. With the last few weeks of illness behind him, his body tolerance to lack of sleep continued to increase gradually.

He had almost daily checkups from Doctor Westphalen, but he didn't mind the attention. If he let her fuss over him a little, maybe she would miss how tired he was getting.

He still insisted to himself that he wasn't going to let the dreams tamper with his head at night. He had been getting approximately two hours of sleep roughly each day and that included short naps he stole while on duty that nobody seemed to notice.

"How you feeling today, Lucas?" Kristin had asked him this morning at breakfast.

"Great now, Doc," he lied. 

"Even slept a little more last night without the dreams," he said cheerily, trying to put on a mask to hide his real pain.

The logic was simple enough, Lucas thought, if he slept Sanderson would come. If he avoided sleeping for longer than an hour at a time, then Sanderson was kept at bay.

The demons that threatened to overwhelm him were somehow kept at arms length when he tried to concentrate on his daily duties and kept working himself without stopping. If he stopped, he would start remembering and going back in his dreams was not good.

On the Bridge that morning, the normal humdrum of almost ritual like mock manoeuvres were put into action. Trying to assimilate the '_What if_' scenario. 

Lucas thought these exercises were a waste of time and effort, but Commander Ford thrived on them and made sure that every one knew he was in command.

Bridger had let his younger Commander take over the helm and play his mock war games. He knew the dark skinned Commander was good at his job, but sometimes felt like the youngest crew member, that the efforts were often overkill to the pretend situations.

Lucas's mind was starting to wander. He was trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

Then, without warning, the crew were startled by a large thud that sounded in the room.

Lucas had fallen asleep at his post, but instead of laying over the top of the keyboard as was customary, on this occasion he had been leaning back on his chair. He felt the chair start to topple backwards, but was too slow in stopping in time to right himself.

Bridger and Ben were immediately at his side, trying to ask too many questions at once whether or not he was alright. All Lucas could do was give a very embarrassed and lopsided grin. His face was now slightly red underneath his shock of blond hair.

Kristin Westphalen had been entering the main doors to the Bridge to consult the Captain on a scientific matter when she saw Lucas fall backwards.

She too, took no time in going to the young man's side. However, where the Captain's voice had been gentle and full of concern, the doctor's was full of worried remarks about taking care of himself. 

_'What was he doing on the Bridge in the first place? Who was responsible for Lucas being irresponsible?_ The list went on and on.

Upon hearing the comments, Kristin and Bridger expected the young man to jump up in anger and give a torrent of rebuttal. Instead, Lucas's shoulders seemed to slump from fatigue and his face seemed to fall even further in embarrassment.

Kristin's mood changed suddenly when she looked at Lucas and saw his features. She knew that Lucas was a very private person and the fact that he had allowed himself to lose concentration like that didn't sit well with him. 

Captain Bridger just became more worried and the Bridge crew grew more concerned about Lucas. They knew that emotionally, Lucas had been on a roller coaster the last few weeks, and now it seemed that he was at the end of his rope.

Kristin looked at Lucas with very motherly intentions and put a comforting arm around his tired shoulders. She knew that this open display of weakness, by falling asleep at his post was the straw that would break the camel's back, and the last thing the teenager wanted to do when he was trying to prove himself to everyone.

She whispered in the teenager's ear, making sure that only the two of them were privy to the topic of the conversation.

Lucas looked up at her and then slowly nodded to her suggestion.

Kristin looked at the rest of the crew to signal that they should return to their duties to avoid and not place any more stress on Lucas by the stares and words of concern.

Bridger let the doctor do her part, and did not try to stop the two when Kristin helped Lucas to his feet and started to exit the Bridge's large clam doors.

He desperately wanted to know what was going on. To talk to the young man and let him know that everything was going to be alright. To help his overcome his deepest fears. He started to follow them to Kristin's office.

Kristin looked back over her shoulder, and a simple curt shake of her head told the Captain that he wouldn't be needed. She knew that Nathan wanted to help Lucas, but right now, too many people was not a good idea.

Lucas had not bothered to look back at his fellow crew members. He just wanted the floor to swallow him up and let him die in peace.

How could you act like a baby in front of everyone, you idiot? You are supposed to be an intellectual genius and here you are falling on the floor. At the first sign of a problem, you just cave in. You really are worthless with a capital **_useless_** Wolenczak.

The teenager continued to silently berate himself like this as the two of them made their way back to the Med Bay.

Half an hour later, Kristin made her way back to the Bridge to let the crew's concern over Lucas come to rest.

She walked over to the middle of the room and starting speaking in a soft and low voice. Not that she thought Lucas would be able to hear her, but just out of respect for the young man's pride and feelings that he had not meant to show openly.

"I suggested a mild sedative to help calm down and relax his mind and his body," she began. "He's too wound up at the moment."

"I gave him the pill and told him to go back to his room and sleep for awhile. He is quite upset with himself that he brought so much attention to himself on the Bridge in front of you all."

"Keep it quiet around his quarters today, and for goodness sake, when he wakes up and roams the boat, just carry on as normal as possible," she implored. 

"Please let him know you are still his friends. He really needs to know you care about him."

The crew did as they were asked and keep their comings and goings on as quiet as possible for Lucas.

* * *

It was late afternoon when the Kristin asked the Captain if he could check on Lucas for her. She of course, already knew the answer, she didn't even need to ask the question.

Bridger knocked on the steel hatchway to Lucas's quarters. When he didn't get any response, he thought one of two things: Firstly, the boy was still soundly asleep due to the mild sedative. Secondly, he was actively ignoring the knock at the door.

The Captain knocked a second time and this time when he didn't get an answer, entered without an invitation.

He also gasped out aloud when he noticed that Lucas's bunk was empty. He looked about the room, trying to locate him, but all he saw was the normal chaos Lucas called home.

Clothes were still on the floor were the teenager had left them, his computer was still switched on, books laid in various conditions over the decking and an a half full glass of water sat upon the desk beside the bed.

Bridger was still muttering some colourful words under his breath when he rushed in Kristin's office.

"He's not in his room," he stammered, trying to catch his breath after running.

"That's strange," Kristin answered, not wanting the knots beginning to form in her stomach to grow any bigger.

"I told him when I gave him the pill to make sure he was in his quarters when he took it. It is only a mild sedative, but acts quickly once ingested," she commented. "I wonder where he is?"

"I knew somebody should have been with him," Bridger said starting to sound slightly annoyed with the doctor. 

"He needs somebody to keep a close eye on him at the moment, Kristin".

Westphalen knew that the Captain was only worried about Lucas, she didn't take his remarks personally. When it came to talking about Lucas, Nathan was just about impossible to get messages through to.

"He also needs time, Nathan," she said gently. 

"After his very public display this morning, the last thing he needs is somebody hovering over him, trying to watch his every move."

"I'm sure he hasn't gone very far, especially if he did indeed take that sleeping pill," she stated. 

"Let's have a quiet look around for him between you and me, before you decided to call in the entire UEO search and rescue team."

"Where would he go, Kristin?" Bridger asked genuinely. 

"Would he be hiding someplace, do you think?"

The doctor thought for a moment, where would I hide if I was a very tired, very frightened teenager on a boat of 200 crew she asked silently.

Then with a smile she then got a notion of where he might be and gestured the Captain to follow her.

The Captain was confused, where did Kristin think Lucas would be hiding out. His logic had all but disappeared when concern had taken over.

Bridger was most surprised when the journey ended and he found himself standing outside the doorway of his own quarters.

"Do you really think he would come back here?" he asked.

"Well, there is only one way to find out, Nathan," she replied. And proceeded to open the door to the Captain's quarters very cautiously.

Inside his own private sanctuary, they found who they were looking for. But the way they found him, only made their worry double over the young man.

Lucas lay curled up in as tight a ball as he could get on the Captain's bunk. The boy was still asleep. He was nestled underneath the blankets and held the pillow close to his chest, in between his knees. He looked like he was trying to shrink up as much as possible, to avoid anybody. The Captain, the Doctor, His Parents, Himself.

Bridger was then overcome with the feeling of being a fool in front of people. He seemed to have a rush of colour to his cheeks as he looked at the doctor nervously.

"Sorry, just worried about him I guess," he managed to get out.

"It's all right, Nathan," she answered. 

"When you stop worrying about Lucas, that's when I will begin to worry about you." 

She decided to return to her surgery to allow the Captain some time alone for himself as well.

Bridger walked over to the bed and couldn't get enough of looking at Lucas as he lay sleeping. He also noticed the position Lucas lay in, and tried to untangle the young man into a more comfortable sleeping posture.

He quickly stopped his efforts, when Lucas began stirring at his touch. The boy was trying to curl up even more and was grasping at the sheets, almost tearing at them.

A frown had crossed over Lucas's face when the Captain had touched him. Bridger withdrew his help and sighed aloud.

"How can I help you, Lucas?" he asked the sleeping figure. 

"Please let me in. I want to make the pain go away. I promise that I will not let anybody hurt you again," he continued.

He then looked over a the couch in his quarters and thought about the back ache he would have in the morning. With his mind continually ticking over, about Lucas, about his crew, about why he ever came back to the SeaQuest, he also fell into a dreamless sleep.  


* * *

When Lucas appeared on the Bridge late the next morning, looking a lot better, but still a little nervous, the crew was trying their best not to let the young man see their concern.

Lucas took his place at his station as normal and then caught the sudden downward glances of the crew and they hurried tried to hide the fact that they had been staring at him.

Bridger had almost stopped in mid sentence, but now continued, although he stole glances as much as he could when opportunities arose.

Kristin had again examined Lucas that morning after he had awoken from the sedative. She tried to get him to talk about his fears and problems, but the boy had begun to stiffen at her questions, and she decided against going on.

With a less that convincing smile, she told him he could return to the Bridge after he had breakfast as long as he only worked for a few hours. He was to let somebody know when he felt tired, and he was to take regular breaks from looking at his computer screen throughout the morning.

He had reluctantly agreed to the terms of the truce. And tried to return a even less convincing smile to the doctor.

Later that same morning, just as Lucas was taking one of the agreed breaks, Ortiz was wandering around the crew doing the mail call.

"O'Neill," he proceeded to yell, "Look's like a pretty envelope for you and smells nice too," he said sarcastically as he handed his pay envelope to the communications officer.

"You're just jealous," O'Neill said trying to keep up the cheerful conversation. His answer was greeted with laughter from all that were on the Bridge. Even Lucas felt a small smirk trying to force it way onto his lips.

"Levine!" Ortiz continued to call as he handed Joshua his pay slip.

"Ford!"

"Krieg!"

Lastly, he help up an A4 size envelope to the light, trying to see the contents.

"Hey, Lucas, looks like there's something here for you today," he said. He wasn't willing to make a joke of Lucas this morning and handed the teenager the envelope.

Lucas took the envelope from Miguel, but had a very confused look upon his face. "I didn't order anything," he stated. "Krieg, is this some sort of joke?" he asked the Lieutenant seated beside him.

Krieg tried to feign a look of falsely accused hurt and commented, "Why, Lucas, it's that new secret part you ordered. You know, the one you wanted for ages that I got of some guy in a back alley."

"Oh, yeah," Lucas replied with a grin, "I remember," trying to keep up appearances.

Bridger and the rest of the crew had collectively breath in relief at the humorous conversation between Lucas and the Lieutenant.

Lucas placed his thumb underneath the flap and proceeded to tear it off to open the mystery envelope. When he pulled out the contents he knew that it was indeed a joke, but a joke of the very worst kind.

He could not hold back the loud gasp and sharp intake of breath as he held what looked to be a photograph in his hand. He continued to stare at the photograph for a moment and then, without warning, let out a anguished groan. 

The teenager's face lost all of it's natural colour and his eyes seemed to roll back as he crumpled to the floor in a dead faint. The photograph fell limply from his hand where it had fallen.

Ben's face had also lost some colour as he watched his young friend fall unconscious to the deck of the Bridge. He quickly knelt beside Lucas, feeling for a pulse, checking that his breathing.

Bridger had stood for a moment, then barged his way through the room full of onlookers and bystanders. He looked down at Lucas and found his gaze shiftily to look at the piece of paper that lay beside him.

Ford had been the one this time to summons the doctor when Lucas fainted. Kristin once again found herself ordering the young man to be carried to the Med Bay for examination.

She left Ben and Bridger where they stood, looking at the source of the boy's state.

The photograph seemed to be nothing more than a picture of a very pretty girl. She looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, with chestnut hair and blue eyes. The Captain turned to photo over to see if there were any clues to her identity on the back.

The only thing written on the back of the photograph, was the name **_Alison_**.

Bridger and Ben looked at each other with very confused looks.  


* * *

Back at the Med Bay, Lucas was beginning to stir. Kristin had place a vial of smelling salts just far enough away from his nostrils for the fumes to creep into his sinuses.

"Oh...," the youth moaned, trying to sit up but was quickly restrained by the doctor and two assistants.

"Lay still please, Lucas," she asked quietly looking at the young man to gauge his emotional state.

Lucas heard the words, and suddenly regained the look of embarrassment that he had one again made a fool of himself in front of the crew.

_'You did it again Wolenczak'_

_You just can't help yourself can you?_

Big man aren't you. Just fainted in front of the entire crew. 

What's the next trick up your sleeve, a invitation affair to see if you can cry in front of them?

_ You weak bastard!_

Bridger and Ben had now made their way to the Med Bay to check on Lucas.

The Captain had collected the photograph and empty envelope and held in his hand as he entered.

Kristin just started to think that the boy's blood pressure and breathing might be returning to normal when Bridger stepped through the doorway.

Lucas spied the envelope and photograph as he came through the door, and put his hand over his eyes,groaning again. 

'_Alison,'_ he whispered softly 

_'Alison,'_ he repeated. Hot tears of grief were threatening to fall down in face in full view of everybody in the room.

The boy flinched when Bridger and Kristin tried to calm him down again. 

Lucas grabbed the photograph from the Captain's hand and held it tightly to his chest. He tried to pull himself together when he felt comforting arms around his shoulders from the doctor. 

Kristin motioned for Bridger and Ben to once again leave her patient and her alone for awhile. They reluctantly left, thinking that this scenario had been played out too many times in the last few days. 

Lucas being upset. Lucas needing to be held and soothed. Lucas needing protection from unknown assailants.

Too many things weren't adding up and they were no closer to finding out the truth.  


* * *

In a high rise building, in an office, far away from the depths of the ocean, a man sat at his desk and wondered if his envelope had arrived yet. He knew that this fight had only just begun, he had only just started playing cat and mouse.

Sanderson knew how Lucas would have reacted to the photograph. It was time to let him be scared just a little more now before he brought plan B into effect. 

He was just starting to put together the pieces of the plan that would ultimately destroy everything the boy held close, everything that he held dear: his friends, his freedom and finally his sanity.  


* * *

It was Saturday night. Two weeks after Krieg's legendary party and three days after the latest incident on the Bridge involving Lucas.

Krieg had wanted to plan another swinging party, but the enthusiasm of the help from the rest of the crew waned dramatically. Nobody seemed to have any drive. The visions of Lucas fainting on to the Bridge deck were still too fresh in everybody's mind.

Lucas had pretty much remained secluded in his quarters since being declared fit and released from the Med Bay yesterday. He didn't want to talk to anybody. He didn't want to do anything. He just sat on his bunk and stared at the ceiling.

Ben Krieg knocked on his door about 6.00pm and asked if Lucas was going to eat dinner as the mess. He decided to take matters into his own hands.

Lucas had begun to shake his head in a negative response, when suddenly he felt himself pulled up gruffly from his bed and hoisted over Krieg's shoulder and being physically carried out of his quarters.

He was protesting loudly as they made their way down the corridor, trying to pull himself free.

"BEN!"

"What are you doing?" he demanded crossly. 

"Put me down, you idiot. I said I don't want to have anything to eat. Ben! Let me go!"

The site of a 17 year old teenager carried roughly over the broad shoulders of the Lieutenant through the decks of the ship brought smirks and smiles from the remainder of the crew.

Lucas was still protesting loudly and to the best of his ability about his treatment when they arrived at the Mess Hall.

Bridger and Kristin and most of the senior staff had been seated at a table enjoying a hot meal when they heard the distinct shouts and swearing coming from Lucas and Ben carried him into the room.

"Ben, put me down," Lucas yelled. 

"I'll get you for this, you, you," and stopped mid sentence as he was plonked unceremoniously on a chair at the table and came face to face with Captain Nathan Bridger.

His face took on a look of steel and he immediately stopped his tirade of swearing and tried his best to smile sheepishly at the Captain.

Bridger had been inwardly laughing a little at the situation as much as all who saw, but his laughing stopped when he looked at Lucas and noticed that the boy was now angry. 

Blood boiling angry and was staring at the people seated at the table with cold, unfeeling blue eyes and a firm, unmoving grimace on his lips.

"Oh, you think this is funny, do you Captain?" he asked angrily.

The Captain and others winced at the sound of venom and displeasure that came from the words.

Ben interjected before the situation got out of control, and dumped a tray in front of Lucas with a loud clang.

Lucas tried not to laugh out loud when he looked at what was offered for dinner. He wanted to let these people know that he could make his own decisions about whether he was hungry or not. 

He wanted the crew to remember that he could function on his own, no matter what had happened over the past few weeks. 

No matter how scared he had appeared to be, he was entitled to a little respect and should be allowed a little personal space when he needed it.

"You actually dragged me down here," he began to say incredulously, "And you expect me to eat what looks to have been cooked and reheated from last week's menu?"

"You can have anything you want, Lucas," Ben replied. 

"So long as you have something to eat. You cannot keep going with little or no food, no sleep and high on adrenaline. You're going to burn yourself out."

Lucas now regretted that he had been so harsh on Ben. Krieg only wanted to help and was trying to make things normal again for him. 

The teenage smiled genuinely at his friend and then said, "Okay, just as long as I get something that looks better than Miguel's left shoe."

This comment brought about a riotous bout of laughter from the crew and seemed to lighten the mood in the room a little.

Bridger had been holding in a breath when Lucas had shouted at him, but now allowed it to escape slowly and started breathing in oxygen again, laughing with the rest of his crewmen over the dinner remarks.

Ben had gone into the kitchen and was rummaging around, trying to locate something quick to prepare that would Lucas want to eat it. He decided that it needed to be fast to cook, because Lucas probably wasn't going to wait around for a full banquet.

He suddenly spied a loaf of bread and some strange fillings in the pantry and went about making the _'Krieg Specialty of the Day'_ sandwich.

Ten minutes later he placed the food in front of Lucas and was rewarded when the boy was staring at the ingredients intently and attempting to take some interest in providing his body with much needed fuel.  


* * *

After what could have been described as a very uneasy meal time, the Captain, much to the surprise of many, suggested that they retire to the Ward Room and play a game of cards.

All knew that Bridger was trying to lure Lucas out of going back to his solitude in his cabin.

Ben Krieg saw the opportunity to make a quick buck and his eyes lit up at the idea of playing poker.

"What game do you want to play, Lucas?" the Captain asked his young friend trying to make the young man feel easy in their company again.

Lucas looked at the faces of his friends, and decided that he probably should stay with them for a while, just to keep things smooth. Just to keep the bad dreams at bay he said silently to himself.

He thought for a moment, going through the list of card games filed away in his brain. He quickly read through that list, the rules for each game, the number of players and the chance of winning for each.

"Poker," he said simply, hoping that this choice agreed with everyone else. He had chosen this game due to the fact that he knew the Captain played the game. If the Captain wasn't going to join in, then he wouldn't either.

Bridger smiled at the answer. Ben just saw dollar signs and Kristin just rolled her eyes thinking about what night it could turn out to be.

O'Neill gave an excuse of having to work that night and politely got up from the table and headed towards his cabin to get ready.

Once they were all seated in the Ward Room, it appeared for the first two hours that this was going to be a very enjoyable evening.

Ben was already up to his neck in debt, leaning over once in a while, pleading with Lucas to lend him some money.

The peaceful of the night was brought to an abrupt and sudden halt with the voice of O'Neill over the Comm Link announcing that there was a video-link call for Lucas.

_'A call ?'_ Lucas thought out loud. 

Nobody ever rings me here. Who would be calling me?

His fears suddenly started to reassemble themselves in great numbers. He was trying not to show his nervousness, but it was damned difficult.

Bridger and the others were also curious about the call, but failed to see the unease coming from Lucas.

"Patch it through, Tim," Lucas finally said to the Comm Link with a quiet voice.

Lucas then proceeded to rise from the table and walk over to a desk just beside the one he was seated at. He wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers before clicking on the correct key on the console, preventing the people in the room from seeing the caller.

The other card players, including the Captain, had now sensed the boy's fear and watched his face with growing concern.

"Hello?" Lucas spoke. 

He could hear breathing on the other end of the line and was thinking that it may have been a prank call until he heard a voice on the other end.

"Hello, Lucas," the voice said.

The reaction was immediate. Lucas immediately stepped back from the console as if it was red hot. The teenager was now holding his chest trying to breath through very tight lungs. 

His eyes grew large with fright as he felt his fear bubbling to the surface. The boy tried to back away further from the desk, but found his legs very rubbery and frozen in one spot.

_Sanderson_... No ... Sanderson... No ...It Can't Be!

Bridger and the others had seen the young man's face go almost transparent and were about to rush to Lucas's side just in case he fainted again.

A quick gesture from his hand tried to convey to them that he was alright. He gingerly clicked another key on the panel, dreading to resume any sort of conversation with the caller. 

Lucas was trying to say something to the console when he heard the voice on the other end instructed him to turn on the Video Link Screen.

With trembling fingers, Lucas tried to find the switch to turn on the screen. He had to use his other hand to steady the first, but then managed to find the appropriate button on the console to work.

_Sanderson ._.. It can't be ... I can't do this... I can't. ...

The video link suddenly whirred into life and the black screen was replaced by the picture of an empty office apartment.

Captain Bridger and the others remained near the table, but were now aware that something was about to occur that was very bad indeed.

Bridger had tried to say something to Lucas when he was interrupted with the voice of another person on the Video Link.

"Hello, Lucas", came the voice. 

Lucas was slowly trying to retreat back from the desk for a third time.

"How are you, Lucas? It's been a long time."

Lucas was trying to scream, but nothing would come. 

His breathing was threatening to cause him to lose control of himself. The young man's hands were clasped together, his finger nails embedding into his palms, almost drawing blood.

"Lucas, I want to talk to you."

"I want to let you know that I have been watching you lately. Watching your every move. Waiting for the right moment."

"Tell me, did you get my letter? 

"How is Alison. Tell her _'Hi' _from you next time you see her for me."

"Lucas?"

**"ANSWER ME!"**

Lucas was trying hard to keep it together. The blood in his veins was coursing through his body like it was on fire. His head was reeling from the memories and now started to have a dull ache.

His feet seemed glued to the floor. His fear of this man was making him trembling and sweat poured from his brow, pooling in various crevices before soaking his shirt and the waistband of his trousers.

"I have been waiting for a long time for **_revenge_**, Lucas."

Now for the first time, since the transmission began, a figure moved out from the shadows and made his way towards the light in the room.

_'NOOOOOOOOOO!_' Lucas's mind screamed.

"It can't be ... I can't do this again . ... '_NOOOOOOOOO!"_

A man was suddenly standing in full view of everyone in the Ward Room. 

Lucas retreated even more, convinced this person might just reach through the screen and touch him.

"I have waited a long time for my revenge on you, wrenched little urchin!"

"I am going to **kill** you."

"Slowly and very painfull, but _'kill'_ you all the same!"

"Remember the last time we met boy?"

"That is going to seem like a kindergarten picnic by the time I have finished with you. ..."

"There won't be enough of you left to put in an envelope!"

"Remember my scar Lucas?"

"The scar that you put there you _BASTARD_!" 

"Let me tell you that I will make the same mark on you ... only this time it will be on your heart... when I rip it out of your chest!"

Everyone who stood looking at the screen was trying to figure out what was going on. They could see a man, yelling abuse and snarling at Lucas. 

They could see a very distinct scar running down the left side of the man's face. They heard the words that he was promising to hurt Lucas.

Lucas could hear it too, he heard the words, felt the fury in them, and the scar.

_'OH GOD!'_ he remembered the scar alright. It was etched into his brain. 

He knew how it got there. The teenager knew about the puckered skin and the length of the scar. Everything about it.

Yes, he even remembered it was him that had caused it.

"See you real soon, Lucas ..._. real soon ._... heh heh!" Cruel laughing could be heard at the end of the threat.  


* * *

Without warning, the Video Screen turned black and the transmission ended.

With the transmission now finished, Lucas seemed to be able to move again. And move he did. 

Just like when Bridger had startled him, he was trying to escape the room with great haste. He was half way across the room to the door before anything registered with his poker playing buddies.

He had suddenly found his lost voice and was now yelling for all he was worth. He was running like somebody possessed. His logic was once again replaced with a rush of adrenaline which allowed him to move like the wind.

Bridger had heard the shouting, the look of fear in Lucas's eyes. He had never seen the youth so scared, he had never heard him yell like he was at this very moment.

The Captain and the others now seemed to find their own legs, and tried in vain to stop the escape of the terrified teenager. They tried to restrain him before he could dive out the door. 

They tried to hold him gently at first, but soon realised that in his present state, he was bucking wildly. They increased their grip on him, three pair of arms were trying to prevent him from leaving.

He yelled for the hands to let him go. He shouted long and hard. The air wasn't getting into his lungs fast enough and he was convinced that they would explode.

Kristin Westphalen had heard the shouting from her cabin. 

She had paled at hearing the young man yelling at the crew like he was. She appeared at the door in front of Lucas. She held a small syringe in her hand.

She hated doing this to the teenager. God knows, he had been through enough pain lately, but if they couldn't calm him down, they risked him hurting himself.

Lucas continued to struggle against the people that wanted to help him the most. Questions about who the stranger was and what had happened long ago would have to wait.

Kristin quickly injected the small dose of sedative into the young man's upper arm. It only took a few moments to start working. Lucas's strong struggles began to waver and grow weaker.

Three sets of hands still held onto him tightly, but then released him gently, lowering him to the floor as his body started to collapse from the drug and drift off to sleep.

Lucas's shouting and struggles only seemed to stop when he was too tired to go on. He had fought like a tiger and tried in vain to escape the room, but now lay on the floor, very still and quiet.

His face was now calm and relaxed, but his hands remain clenched into fists and his body remained tense for a few moments longer.

Bridger, Ortiz and Krieg were exhausted too. It took a combined effort to hold on to their young friend. 

They all held confused and puzzled expressions on their faces as they remembered the Video Link and looked down at Lucas laying on the floor.  


* * *

Lucas awoke the next morning to total silence in the Med Lab. He was trying to piece together his thoughts and the events that led up to this day.

His head ached slightly from the fast acting sedative that Doctor Westphalen had administered. His muscles felt lethargic and tight. His mouth was extremely dry: probably another side effect from the drug. His eyes felt very tired and gritty.

He saw nobody in the near vicinity and slowly took his own time to sit up, just pleased that he was allowed to be alone in his current misery.

The solitude was short lived as Nathan Bridger appeared through the door, surprised to see the young man awake. He was unsure how to start the conversation after the events of last night, so decided to take it slow and avoid the obvious.

"How are you feeling this morning, Lucas?" he asked. At least that came out alright he thought to himself.

"I suppose you will be throwing me off the SeaQuest," was the response from the boy trying to avoid eye contact with the Captain.

"Throw you off SeaQuest," the Captain said cautiously. "Is that what you want, Lucas?"

"No," came the quick reply. 

"I just thought after last night that you would be glad to get rid of me. Everybody must be laughing behind their backs at me. Thinking that I proved to them that I can't handle being on a boat full of adults." Lucas had said the words with a little more bitterness than intended, but at the moment, he felt just lousy enough not to careless.

Kristin Westphalen stepped to be alongside the Captain and answered before Bridger had a chance.

"Everybody is not laughing at you, Lucas," she commented. "Just the opposite."

"The worried faces of your friends have been poking in here all morning, wondering if you are alright. Asking when you will be up and around again. If there is anything they can do. They are all genuinely care very much for you." 

Kristin normally would have given a stern lecture to the young man about feeling so badly about himself, but her own concern for his emotional and physical state overtook any slight annoyance she felt towards him.

"Ben was dragged out of here about five minutes before you woke up, after being here since last night," she added. 

"The Captain here hasn't left at all." 

She looked at Nathan waiting for him to add some positive addendums to the speech she was making.

"That's right pal, we were very worried, not laughing at you," Nathan said after being about to get a word in after Kristin.

Bridger now walked over to the bed Lucas was sitting on and put an arm around the boy's thin shoulders.

"We are all here for you," he said softly. 

"I don't know what last night was about, or what has happening in your mind since that man attacked you, Lucas, but I only want to help. I really do," he repeated with emphasis.

Lucas looked at the Captain for the first time since walking in, his expression one of utter surrender. 

He didn't know what else to do. He didn't know how to beat his demons alone. Maybe talking to Bridger would help. Maybe it wouldn't.

Maybe Sanderson would kill him after all was his after thought.

"I don't know where else to go, I don't know where else to hide, Captain," he said with his emotions threatening to overtake him again. 

The young man's hands started trembling again at the thought of being in the presence of his enemy again and Bridger felt the fear starting to surface again.

"How about you start at the beginning," Bridger said.

"I want to help, but I need to know who wants to hurt you. Who was the man on the phone?"

"Who was the girl in the photograph? Help me to, help you please Lucas," Bridger pleaded, his own voice betraying how concerned he was for the young person sitting beside him.

Lucas opened his mouth wanting to talk to his two friends, when Ben Krieg walked back into the Med Bay area. The teenager abruptly shut his mouth again and looked at his friend as he walked in.

"What are you doing back here, Lieutenant?" Kristin hissed at Ben. She knew he was worried about Lucas, but Krieg had not had much rest himself all night.

"I heard the Captain's speech, Lucas," he said avoiding Kristin altogether and focusing on his young friend. 

"I want to help too Lucas. Please, let us help you get over this." He didn't know what _this_ was but he was determined to stop anybody from harming his young friend again.

"Three against one huh," Lucas said trying to smile. "Looks like I haven't got much of a choice do I?"

"No," came in unison to confirm his comment.  


* * *

Kristin closed the doors the Med Bay and locked them so no other person could enter.

Nathan remained sitting next to the boy and Ben pulled two chairs closer to the bed for himself and the doctor to hear the coming story.

Lucas thought for a moment and wondered how best to start. Like the Captain said, it was probably best to start at the beginning, the real beginning and go from there.

"Well," he started nervously, looking from one person to the other trying to gauge their real feelings towards him right now. 

"Here goes ..."

"A couple of years ago, two to be precise. My _father ..._ the word caught in this throat and Lucas thought and it was noticed by everyone else in the room too. "Asked me to work with a colleague he knew about a new program he was developing."

"His name was Paul Sanderson." A little shudder again pulsing through his body at the mention of that name. 

"He was apparently one of the best genetic engineers in the country, possibly the world, or so everyone thought at the time."

"My father told me that he was having problems with the final programming instructions to make the project operational and thought I might be able to help a little. God knows why, he never believed in anything I have been able to do up to that time before," he said with disgust.

Kristin and Nathan sighed inwardly as they knew once again they would be hearing about the darker side of the relationship between Lucas and his father. 

Every time they heard the details, they shook their heads in disbelief and secretly wished great harm would befall Dr Lawrence Wolenczak shortly to get it over with and make life easier for Lucas and make the bad memories fade away.

"The first few weeks with Sanderson seemed to go well. We were able to talk to each other better than my father anticipated and he even thought I had some great input into the project."

"After that initial first few weeks, I began to wonder about the legality of the project. Up until then I have never openly expressed my concerns, but when I was analysing the data he was trying to find a solution for, something told me things were not all good in Hollywood," Lucas explained.

"The girl in the photograph was named Alison. She and I were friends. Had been since childhood. She was one of the first real friend I ever had and she helped me get through a lot of difficult times with my parents ..." he left the sentence uncompleted.

The three listeners needed no further encouragement to know what Lucas was talking about. They knew all about the famous Dr and Mrs Wolenczak, their esteemed careers, their high society parties and of course their secret neglect and abuse of their only son.

"I started to voice some genuine concerns about the project to Sanderson. But he just laughed them off with stupid comments and wisecracks."

"I even tried to tell my father about them when I became really concerned about people being hurt from the results, but as usual he told me I was a worthless no good whinger and told me I should be privileged to work with someone as Paul Sanderson."

Strike number two hundred against Dr Lawrence Wolenczak, Ben Krieg silently thought as he listened intently to his friend.

"One day when I thought enough was enough," he said, his voice dropping slightly. "I told him that I could no longer work on the project."

"That's when the threats started," stated Lucas. 

"At first it was little things like _'Wait to I tell your father about what you said.'_

_' I really bet he will be pleased to make sure you know where you stand.'_

"Then the threats started getting serious and a few times he had come close to physical violence," Lucas continued whilst watching the face of the Captain turn a little darker with anger at these callous people.

"Lastly, when he thought that I needed a little more gentler persuasion ... he told me that," Lucas had to pause a minute when the tears threatened to start. 

"If I didn't help him complete the project, or if I told anybody about what might happen as a result of his experiments, then Alison would be hurt and it would be all my fault."

After that sentence, the tears were coming closer to falling and they almost stopped the story from being told and Lucas was barely able to recompose himself. 

Bridger tightened the arm around his shoulders in support and Kristin was talking softly to him about everything being alright and nothing being his fault.

"What happened to Alison, Lucas?" Kristen asked gently.

"One day," Lucas said with a cracked voice. "After threatening to leave again, I got a note at home that night to say that if I wanted to see Alison alive again, then I had to come back to his laboratory alone."

"When I got to the laboratory, Alison was tied to a chair and duct tape over her mouth," he said, recalling the scene as if it had been yesterday. 

"She had a few small bruises on her arms and had being crying."

"I demanded that Sanderson let her go and even tried to untie her from the chair," Lucas explained. 

"But then I was grabbed from behind by some big dude who wouldn't let me go. Sanderson told me that if I wanted to see Alison set free, then I had twelve hours to complete the program and get it fully operational."

"Sanderson had a gun poised at me and was threatening to shoot both me and Alison if I didn't do what he asked."

"For one stupid moment, stupid stupid moment..." Lucas said in reproach to himself, " I felt the grip from my capture to loosen a little. I thought this was my only chance to get free and help Alison." 

"I tried to lunge at Sanderson and grab the gun off him. I wasn't worried about myself," he stated and immediately regretted that statement as he heard the loud exclamation from Bridger, Krieg and Westphalen.

"I managed to avoid the big dude behind me and actually reached the gun and Sanderson and started trying to wrestle it from him. But, something went terribly wrong and somehow in the struggle the gun went off," Lucas said again with his voice betraying him and a few tears beginning to fall down his face.

"The gun went off?" Bridger said worriedly.

"Yeah," was the response as Lucas tried to shut the images out of his mind.

"But the gun actually went off twice," he added. 

"Once into the face of Sanderson and that made the pretty scar on his face that he mentioned and you probably saw on the video link."

"And?" Krieg tried to lure the rest out, knowing that it was hurting his friend to tell this part of his story.

"Yeah, a second bullet ..., a second bullet fired and hit Alison as she was still tied to the chair," Lucas said also in a whisper and started to cry softly, wrapping his arm around the one Bridger still had around his shoulder.

Kristin and Nathan felt their own hearts stop beating for a second as Lucas relived that memory. Their compassion and sorrow for Lucas knew no bounds at the moment. No wonder he collapsed when he saw the photograph, Kristin sighed to herself.

"She didn't stand a chance," Lucas managed to get out through heart aching tears.

"It was my fault and stupidity that killed her," he stated softly enough to be heard.

Bridger then had heard enough of this torment, and gently made Lucas look him in the eye, "You didn't do anything wrong, k iddo. Sanderson sounds like a monster. It's not your fault. It's not your fault," he repeated.

Lucas's tears stopped but the look on his face told the Captain that the teenager did indeed blame himself for the death of his friend and nothing anybody said would change that.

"What happened to Sanderson?" Kristin asked not wanting to probe much further.

Lucas was emotionally spent and needed to rest again or he would again collapse from mental or physical exhaustion.

"I thought that bullet killed him," Lucas stated simply. 

"I was too concerned about Alison and what I had done for the best part of a year after the event that I never kept up with the newspapers or the media about what happened to him."

"On the day it happened, I just ran. By the time the authorities found Alison, it was just assumed that Sanderson had killed her and there was no evidence to the contrary," the teenager explained.

"Didn't your father say anything about Alison or Sanderson when he heard about Alison's death, Lucas?" Bridger enquired.

"No, he just thought like everybody else that Sanderson had gone crazy. He didn't even know I had been in the building on that night. He never really kept track of where I was at any time, he never really cared to know."

"His only comment afterwards was that it was a shame that I couldn't have learned more from a person like Sanderson," Lucas said bitterly. 

"He didn't even acknowledge Alison's death."  


* * *

By this time Kristin knew enough to know that the story would go no further. She gave a look to Krieg and Bridger which made them understand that Lucas had had enough and needed to get some rest. 

They also knew not to argue with the Good Doctor if they knew what was best for them.

"Ben, I want you back in your quarters on the double," she said trying to sound gruff.

"No buts about it Lieutenant or I will give you something to make sure you do not surface from you bed for the next 48 hours, do I make myself clear?" she asked.

"Yes, Sir," Krieg stated and give an attempt at a pretend salute.

She was a bit more gentle with the teenager, "Lucas, honey, you need to get some rest now. Your body needs to recuperate and the best way for that to happen is sleep."

Lucas's head had been bowed forward but now suddenly came up abruptly, "NO!"

"I can't sleep, Kristin. Too many memories," he said, admitting how scared he was.

"Can't sleep. Sanderson will come again," he continued.

"No one on this boat is going to let anybody get anywhere near you to hurt you Lucas," Kristin said to the frightened teenager. 

"Isn't that right Captain and Ben?"

"Damn right," Ben stated sharply. 

"No one had better try Lucas, or they will have guts for garters."

"Lucas, everyone on this boat would protect you to no ends, if it came to that. I will personally guarantee that no one will hurt you whilst you are on this vessel."

Ben now exited the Med Bay hoping that the presence of Bridger and Kristin would calm the teenager down enough for him to rest properly.

"Would you like something to help you sleep?" Kristin asked.

Lucas was about to protest again about sleeping, but was just too tired and gave in with a brief nod.

Kristin went about getting the mild sedative for Lucas while Bridger continued to hold him securely. 

Bridger didn't know how to help Lucas much except through love and physical presence. He kept reiterating to himself that nobody would hurt Lucas as long as he was around.

Kristin administered the mild sedative into the wrist of the young man without incident and waited to see it work.

"Would you like to go back to your cabin, Lucas?" she asked a slightly groggy Lucas.

"No," was the slurred reply as the drug took effect.

Bridger and Westphalen just looked at each other and then nodded when they secretly knew where the boy would spend the night - Bridger's cabin.

Before the drug took total effect, Kristin cautiously asked one final question to her young charge. 

"Lucas, what was the project that Sanderson was working on?"

"Viruses," was the simple answer "Trying to genetically alter viruses to make them more potent and last longer." 

The young man's head bowed once more as he began to descend into the drugged induced slumber.

Kristin and Nathan could only give each other a worriedly look and they remembered the result of the blood sample the doctor had taken from Lucas and the sudden illness he had suffered only weeks ago after the attack.  


* * *

Bridger gathered a very sleepy Lucas in his strong embrace and then proceeded one more time back to his cabin.

Bridger once again for the numerous time in the last few weeks was tucking an asleep young teenager into his own bunk. He placed the boy's head on the soft pillow and then placed a blanket over the vulnerable figure. .

He knew that he would be willing to look after the young man for as long as he was needed, but he was desperate to help Lucas get over the past few months as quickly as possible and prevent any more hurt, physical or emotion to him.

The Captain then proceeded out into the corridor towards the bridge. He knew that there would be many anxious people wanted to know about how Lucas was doing. 

He was only to pleased to he the bearer of good news that Lucas was sleeping soundly. He didn't know how they would take the story that he had just heard told.

Lucas slept for the remainder of the day without interruption. Bridger and Kristin made sure of this, checking on him regularly and nearly running each other over when doing it.

About 5.00 pm that evening, Kristin decided it best to try and wake Lucas for some food. Bridger went with her back to his quarters just in case he was needed.

It proved difficult to wake Lucas at first due to the sedative, and probably the fact that Lucas was only getting a decent amount of sleep with an artificial aid. Kristin was convinced that the virus Lucas had been recovering from may be still in his system a little too.

"Wake up, sleepy head," she said softly, trying to sound cheerful.

Lucas groaned slightly to her relief and further rewarded her efforts with opening his blue eyes and trying to focus them on the room. Bridger stepped forward from behind Kristin and smiled at him, trying to reassure him that he had friends around him.

"Thought you might want something to eat, kiddo," Bridger said attempting to get a positive reaction from the teenager.

"Yeah, Kay," he said still very sleepily. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, but had to hold on to stop himself from falling flat on his face on the floor.

"Just a little dizzy," he said, trying to reassure the two worried people before him as they moved to stop his fall and steady him with an arm on each side.

"Take it easy, Lucas," Kristin told him. 

"Your body has taken such a battering over the past couple of weeks, and the sedatives you have been taking have probably built up in your system".

The dizziness had eased a little and Lucas found he could now stand without the room feeling like a merry-go-round ride. He started heading towards the door of the Captain's quarters. 

Kristin and Bridger followed quickly behind, just in case he decided to take a tumble.

Lucas walked into the mess hall and immediately felt the same atmosphere he had felt after the attack on him and again he started to back out of the room.

"I can't face them all at once, Captain," he said to Bridger as the man come up beside him noting his obvious nervousness about entering the room with his fellow crew members.

"That's okay, kiddo," Bridger said to the boy, an arm again snaked securely around his shoulders.

Kristin had also noticed the young man's nervousness and was looking for a solution.

"How bout having dinner back at my place?" Bridger suggested.

Lucas didn't say anything and nodded slightly to show his agreement. Kristin also nodded her approval of the arrangements.

Bridger and Lucas exited the room and started making their way down the corridor to the Captain's quarters. Kristin went about getting two trays organized from the kitchen.

When she arrived back at the Captain's quarters, she held a tray with a bowl of soup, a plate of meat and vegetables and a small glass of milk. Ben Krieg was behind her with another tray with the same contents.

Ben quickly placed the tray on the Captain's desk and left the room, giving Lucas a brief wink on the way past. He knew that Lucas needed to eat and decided that too many distractions at the moment would prevent that.

Kristin also decided that it would be best just to leave Lucas in the Captain's capable hands for the time being, and also left the room to return back to her office.

"Doesn't look to bad," Bridger commented, eyeing what was on the plate and deciding that the only way Lucas would probably eat was to lead by example.

"Yeah, it almost look's edible," Lucas added and picked up the glass of milk and started to drink it.

Twenty minutes later, Bridger's plate was empty and he placed his knife and fork on the plate and used the serviette to wipe his face. He looked at Lucas's plate and noted that the plate was only half eaten. 

'_Oh, well'_ he thought to himself._ 'Half the battle won and half lost.'_

Lucas went about settling down on the couch in the Captain's quarters and flicking through the television channels for something to watch. He didn't feel much like mixing with anybody tonight and felt a night in front of the idiot box was best.

"What do you want to watch?" he asked the Captain as he continued to flick through the channels.

"You watch what you want, Lucas," Bridger replied. "I'm due on the bridge in a few minutes."

Lucas was a little disappointed to hear this as he thought the Captain may stay with him, but he decided that the ship couldn't stop running just because of him.

Bridger got up and packed up the trays and headed to the door.

"You going to be all right?" he enquired, knowing that he really should be with Lucas.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Lucas answered.

"Go and do your captain bit, we can talk later." He smiled at the Captain but felt it hadn't done it's job of reassuring his friend.

* * *

Bridger wasn't able to return to his quarters until almost midnight that night.

He knew that he was spending a lot of time with Lucas whilst he was sick and hurt over the last month, but given a choice between his work on the SeaQuest and the UEO and Lucas, there wasn't even a contest. 

He would quit his job at a moment's notice and go back to his secluded island if that is what Lucas wanted. All he had to do was say so.

He heard the television outside his door and assumed that Lucas was still awake and maybe was waiting up for him to have that chat from earlier. But he was a little disappointed when he spied the figure curled up on his couch asleep.

He tried to toss up whether no not to move him, but quickly decided against it and opted to move the boy if he awoke later on. He was sure that Lucas would awaken with a least one nightmare tonight and thought it best to let the monsters inside Lucas's mind rest until later too.

The next two days saw Lucas slowly returning to some sort of routine, even returning to a few minor duties on the Bridge, but at the end of each shift, he would simply gather a meagre meal on a tray and return to the Captain's quarters. He didn't socialise with any of the crew members, not even Ben, and spoke only when spoken to.

Kristin, Ben and Bridger had tried to lure Lucas out of his cocoon, but to no avail.

Finally, Bridger decided some sort of drastic persuasion was needed to get Lucas to come back to the real world. The young man was withering like a rootless plant and seemed to be taking most of the crew with him into his depression as they tried everything and anything to draw him out.

Late one afternoon, just as Lucas would have been finishing his shift on the Bridge and was going to the mess to get his evening meal tray, Bridger had been busy in his office talking to Admiral Noyce.

"I need a big favour, Bill," Bridger said to the balding man on the vid screen before him.

"What sort of favour, Nathan?" Bill eyed his life long friend suspiciously.

"I need you to get some tickets for me," Bridger replied.

"Tickets?" Bill answered flabbergasted.

"Want to go to a concert, Nathan?" Bill joked at his friend. "A little too old now for that sort of thing aren't you?"

"It's not for me," Bridger replied "It's for Lucas."

Admiral Bill Noyce didn't need for anymore to be said. Nathan and Kristin had been keeping him up to date about what had been happening to Lucas aboard the SeaQuest over the last month.

He had a soft spot for the young man himself. It was him after all that had approved for the young teenage genius to come aboard the SeaQuest all those months ago.

He thought that the experience would not only help the young man, but also his old navy friend Nathan. Lord knew Nathan deserved a little family in his life after the death of Robert and Carol. 

The relationship that had developed couldn't have worked out any better Noyce thought. The bond was now strong between the two of them and both benefited from the resulting love and companionship.

"I'll see what I can do," Bill said.

"I'll expect an call from you in an hour, Bill," Bridger said with a wink "I'm calling in all of my chips on this one," and terminated the video link.

Lucas had actually eaten his meal in the canteen tonight due to their being virtually nobody around to feel pity for him or ask him how he was feeling.

He now headed back to the Captain's cabin to see what his friend was doing. Although he didn't want to spend time with many other friends on the SeaQuest lately, he thrived on the chats he and Bridger had at night. Somehow the Captain being there made it easier to cope and stopped his mind from wandering.

He opened the door to the Captain's quarters after a brief rapping and was greeted by the grinning face of his friend.

"What?" he asked simply.

"Hello to you today too, Lucas," Bridger said hoping that the mood in the room wasn't going to get any bleaker.

Bridger had been holding a white envelope in his hand and now held it out at arms length towards the teenager.

"What's this?" Lucas asked suspiciously automatically thinking it couldn't be good if it was in stationary headed up UEO.

"Open it and see," Bridger said as Lucas took the envelope from him and unfolded the piece of white paper inside.

Lucas read the contents on the sheet of paper and then reread it just to make sure his eyes weren't playing trick on him.

"Are you serious?" he asked nervously still not believing what he had seen.

"Definitely," Bridger said with emphasis. 

"It's all approved. You just have to decide on who and I'll take care of the rest."

Bridger had seen the hint of a smile on the young man as he had read the contents of the letter, but he was totally unprepared for what happened next.

Suddenly Lucas let out a _'YAHOOOOOOO_!" that could be heard some distance and just about bowled Bridger over with a bear hug.

He blurted out phrases of thanks, couldn't believe it, this is a dream and it couldn't happen to him. He then let out a second holler of delight and scurried out of the room talking about packing his bags and going off to tell the people he wanted along on the trip.

Bridger had not seen Lucas that happy in a long time and it brought a great sense of relief to Lucas's joy.

Kristin and Ben had heard the shout of delight from Lucas before he almost knocked them over when they came running to the noise.

He gave them the same gigantic grin and yell of _'YAHOO_!' that he had given the Captain and continued down the corridor towards his own quarters.

Kristin and Ben just looked at each other baffled and then through the open door at the Captain who was still very pleased with himself.

"What did you do?" Kristin asked, wanting to know what the miracle cure had been.

Ben stood beside the doctor, hands on hips, with a questioning look. He thought that the grin from the Captain was almost as big as Lucas's - almost.

"I got some tickets to a concert that he has been talking about for the last few months," Bridger told them. "Came at a pretty price, but I think it was worth it, don't you?"

"Oh, I could just kiss you," Kristin exclaimed and then suddenly remembered the Lieutenant was standing beside her and she restrained herself with a hardy handshake and nod of approval.

* * *

Ben also had praise for the Captain as he too had not seen Lucas that happy in a very long time. It was Lucas of old.

Bridger proceeded to tell them what tickets he had gained and the arrangements for the accommodation he had arranged with the Admiral. The accommodation was to be booked at the same hotel the band for the concert was staying.

This was for two reasons, Firstly to further boost the present to Lucas and enable to meet his idols from the band after the concert.

Secondly, the security for the hotel would need to be first rate for the band and this would hopefully extend to all other's staying there. This included Lucas as the recent attack on Lucas was still fresh in everybody's mind.

The launch bay was a hive of activity the next day, with baggage being stored in the shuttle ready to go up world.

Lucas Wolenczak was making sure that everything went smoothly and everybody would be ready to go on time. This was an opportunity that he didn't want to miss. He still found it hard to accept what the Captain had done for him. He knew the tickets wouldn't have come cheap.

He had known about the concert several months ago and had tried to get tickets himself, but was told the concert was sold out. He was baffled as to how the Captain had been able to pull some strings and get this trip organized at such short notice.

Commander Jonathan Ford was trying his best to help Lucas with the moving of passengers and baggage to the appropriate departing spot. 

Unlike Lucas, Commander Ford was very military in operational procedure but tried his hardest to work with the teenager so that his spirit wasn't dampened.

Lucas had come barrelling onto the Bridge late yesterday afternoon after he had been the tickets and went about telling the rest of the crew with excitement written all over him.

He had chosen who would be the people to go, Ben of course, Captain Bridger, Kristin Westphalen, Tim O'Neill and Miguel Ortiz. He would have liked to take the whole crew but knew that the tickets only numbered six.

Like Kristin Westphalen, the rest of the crew had been down right flabbergasted at the sudden change in mood of the young man. Yesterday morning on the Bridge, Lucas went about his normal duties without talking to anybody or indeed even looking up from his work station. But after the shift change his whole demeanour had taken a step back.

"Come on Doc," Lucas said to Kristin as he waited impatiently for her to take note of her luggage.

"Rushing me about won't help the situation, Lucas," Kristin tried to explain, but knew that her lecture was to no avail. 

Sparkles shone in the eyes of the young man from the anticipation of something he was looking forward to and she found it hard to be even slightly cross with him.

She had the most appreciative comments and looks for the Captain as he walked towards the launch bay holding only a small overnight bag. Kristin had three for herself and most everyone else had at least two.

"Is that all your taking, Nathan?" she asked the Captain feeling a little guilty at the number of bags she was planning to take.

"Yeah," Bridger replied. "I always travel light," he added.

It wasn't long before the launch was finally ready for undocking from the SeaQuest and on its way up world with all aboard.

* * *

The crew had disembarked from the mariner and had made their way by taxi towards their hotel accommodation.

As they got out of the cab and walked into the lobby, they couldn't believe their eyes at the luxuriousness of the hotel and its vast size. All stood agape in the front entrance and tried to take it all in their peripheral vision, along with the sounds and aromas bombarding their senses.

Bridger and Westphalen had made their way to the front counter and went about sorting out the booking arrangements. Kristin had wondered about the expense, but Bridger just said he would take care of it.

Kristin knew that the Captain had a little money stashed away. Actually the Captain had quite a lot of money put away and was only too happy to spend it on his favourite crew and especially Lucas. 

Lucas, although his parents were well off, had not been afforded some of the luxuries during his childhood that Bridger thought he needed. Vacations and social events were a few of those things lacking in Lucas's lifestyle.

Bridger had barely got back to stand with the rest of the crew and tell them what their allotted room numbers were before Lucas took off ahead of everyone else at a run towards the elevators.

Kristin smiled at Bridger and the rest of the crew just looked on in amazement. This couldn't be the same person that two days ago wouldn't talk to a soul aboard the SeaQuest. The teenager was acting like this was his first trip to the circus or his first trip anywhere.

The rooms were allocated on the third floor of the four storey building. Kristin, Bridger and Lucas were to share a room, and Ben, Miguel and Tim O'Neill another. C146 and C148.

The rooms were side by side each other and at the end of a long hallway towards the rear of the building.

For the remainder of the day, the crew spent their time surveying their surroundings, working out how to get from their rooms to the restaurant and cafes downstairs.

Some of their time was spent relaxing by the pool deck. Krieg was trying very hard to get the local girls to notice him, but was unsuccessful. Ortiz and O'Neill just looked on with grins on their faces at the Lieutenant's attempts.

Lucas, the Captain and Kristen Westphalen had gone to one of the cafe's for a cup of coffee and something light to eat. Afterwards, all made their way back to their room. Kristin and Bridger sat talking at the table while Lucas was playing with the television remote controls on the couch.

The rooms were very spacious and luxurious. All had wondered about the cost, but again Bridger had said he was happy to foot the bill. 

The room where the Captain was staying had a single room for Lucas and a double room for himself and Kristin. Bridger knew it was pointless trying to hide his relationship with the doctor from the crew.

The room that the rest of the crew occupied next door had two rooms with two single beds in one and a double bed in the other. Krieg and O'Neill decided that due to the snoring habits of their Cuban friend, that Miguel Ortiz could claim the double bed for himself.

The concert was supposed to be the following night, so there was quite a number of hours just to wind down and relax, or in Lucas's case, wind up.

Later that evening, approximately 6.00 pm Kristin and Bridger decided that they would go down to the hotel's restaurant and get an early dinner. They were about to ask their young friend to join then, and both looked over towards the couch that was in the room.

Both smiled at the sight of Lucas asleep with the sound of the television still radiating through the room. The boy looked completely at peace, so they decided to leave him a note about joining them when he woke later.

"Must have worn himself out with the excitement," Bridger commented as he and Kristin closed the door silently and started down the corridor towards the elevator.

They stopped briefly at the room next door to see if anybody else wanted to join them. All three of their fellow crew members volunteered to go downstairs with them. They were all looking forward to a good meal and enjoying that taste of real food that wasn't freeze dried or genetically engineered. 

* * *

Down at the reception desk at the Lobby of the hotel, a man was asking the girl at the counter about a certain party he knew to be registered there.

The man was in fact the same person who had been hired to bring Lucas Wolenczak to his employer, Sanderson the first time. 

It had been made abundantly clear that Campbell was to make the attempt a successful one this time. He knew the penalties for failing to do what was required.

The man had introduced himself to the receptionist as a friend of the Captain's and the girl had believed him on face value and willingly showed him the hotel register with the allotted room numbers he requested.

Things couldn't have gone smoother, the man thought to himself as he made his way to the stairway. In his pocket, he had a small device that resembled a hand gun, a pair of keys to a van that was parked at the front of the hotel and a pair of handcuffs with corresponding keys.

Bridger and Kristin decided that Lucas had been asleep long enough and that his friends should go and retrieve him from his room and come and join them in a meal in the restaurant.

Tim, Miguel and Ben made their way up he four storey building to the third floor by the elevator. They were only at the elevator door when they saw that down the far end of the corridor, almost at the end of the hallway, Lucas was at the door to his room. It looked at if he was coming out, so his friends decided to wait at the elevator for him.

Halfway along the hallway, there was a stairwell on either side of the hallway that gave access to the higher and lower floors.

Lucas looked up after locking the door to his room and gave a grin and quick wave to acknowledge that he saw his friends waiting for him at the end of the corridor. Ben gave quick wave in return.

Just as Lucas started down the hallway, his attention was drawn to the sound of someone ascending the stair case in front of him. It was about halfway between himself and his friends at the elevator.

The smile on his face turned to one of horror as he spied the person that now was almost at the top of the staircase.

Ben, Tim and Miguel also noted the change in facial expression in their young friend, but failed to note the danger as they had not seen Lucas's attacker before. They had only heard his voice on the Comm Link system.

They all wondered why Lucas's demeanour had changed for the worst so suddenly until they heard the words:

"Now I have got you alone," Campbell taunted the boy. 

He had failed to see Lucas's fellow crew members at the end of the hall. His vision was focused on his intended victim and fulfilling his obligations to his employer.

The only sounds Lucas could get out of his throat as fear threatened to overtake him was a low moaning sound and an almost strangled, _'NOOOOO!'_.

Tim and Ben had heard the voice and knew it instantly as the man who had attacked Lucas aboard the SeaQuest. Both feared for their friend as did Miguel, and yelled at the man to stop where he was.

The man was surprised to hear someone else's voice and whirled around to see the two Lieutenant's and Miguel standing by the elevator.

This was all that Lucas needed, a slight distraction. He flew towards the opposite staircase to where his intended attacker was, and leapt down the stairs three at a time. His face was pale and he was trembling slightly at the thought of being trapped by this madman again.

Campbell swore viciously as he saw the teenager's escape and darted after him, drawing the replica hand gun from his pocket so that Lucas's friends spied it before he started descending the stairs.

Lucas's friends did not know that it wasn't a real pistol and now feared that the man would indeed shoot their young genius before they could save him. All of them took off after the man and after Lucas.

Suddenly the lobby of the hotel was brought alive with the sound of running as Lucas ran past the front reception desk at a frantic pace. The attacker was about 20 metres behind him and Lucas's crew members about 20 metres behind further.

Lucas knew that he was running for his life and he wasn't intending to look at the disbelieving face of the other patrons who were watching the situation unfold before them.

Lucas didn't keep track of exactly where he was in hotel, he just kept running. Not wanting to think that this man intended to take him back to Sanderson. And this time, the attempt wouldn't be as easy as the last occasion.

He only briefly recognized the restaurant as he raced in the door, surprising not only the dining guests, but also Captain and Doctor Westphalen.

The Captain and the doctor had been enjoying a glass of red wine and were awaiting the return of the rest of the crew. What they saw of Lucas's face, brought back all the fears from the past month that had eased over the last two days. They didn't understand why the young man was running at full pelt through a crowded restaurant as if everyone wasn't there.

Lucas was pale, sweating and had a look on his face of absolute terror. He didn't quite look where he was going as he raced through the room and accidentally ran into a bus boy who was carrying a large tray of plates.

The plates were sent to the ground in a large crash. Kristin and Nathan inwardly winced at the sound, but were more worried that Lucas was more determined to keep running than apologize or check to see if anybody was hurt.

The room had an exit on the opposite side of the room, and Lucas just headed towards it. An empty table stood in his path between him and the door, but to everyone's amazement, Lucas was running at such a pace, that with one leap he clean hurdled over the table and kept running through the door at the same desperate speed.

Just as Lucas's figure disappeared from the doorway, the crowd in the restaurant were greeted by the man who had been chasing him. Campbell came barging through the same door as Lucas, and proceeded to run after the young man.

Kristin and Nathan spotted the replica hand gun in his hand and outwardly gasped, knowing why Lucas was now running, but still not completely understanding the situation.

Bridger spotted the rest of his crew coming through the door, apparently chasing after the person chasing Lucas. 

Ben yelled something out to the Captain, and then repeated it louder when he didn't seem to get the message.

"It's the same guy that tried to kidnap Lucas on the boat," Krieg yelled loudly to the Captain as he gestured toward the man in the room.  


* * *

The rest of the diners just looked on with confusion as the events taking place and the conversation being thrown around the room.

Like Lucas, the man made his way towards the other side of the room in pursuit of the teenager. However, instead of hurdling over the furniture as the young man had done, this man was just content to knock the chair flying on his way past. He overturned the table that had stood at the doorway and continued after the teenager, gun poised ready to shoot if he could get a clear view.

Bridger and Westphalen now joined their fellow crew members in the pursuit of Lucas's attacker. Bridger again took on the form of an Olympic athlete as he thought of Lucas in trouble again with his man, but his best efforts were not enough to keep up with his young friend and the man pursuing him.

The other crew members had trouble keeping up with either of them as well.

Lucas had dived out the door and now ran down what appeared to be a deserted corridor behind the reception desk. He ducked out of sight, leaning up against a wall adjacent to the reception desk.

His attacker appeared in the lobby, breathing heavily and leaning over with his hands on his knees, trying to get his breath back after the running as scowered the lobby looking for his victim.

Campbell ended up walking quickly up the opposite hallway beside the reception desk to Lucas, and was thrilled to find that the corridor lead directly to the hallway the Lucas was watching from. The boy was peering from around the alcove, trying to see where the man was without giving his own hiding place away.

The man had come up behind Lucas very silently. The young man was watching the other way, trying to spot his attacker, not knowing about the adjoining corridor. He too was trying to catch his breath in case he needed to take off again.

Just when he thought he could take a breather, he felt a rough hand grab him around his mouth and jerk him backwards. He tried to scream for help, but any noise was cut off by the man's hand.

"Don't move or you're dead," the man hissed at Lucas. He was bigger than the teenager and used his sheer bulk to his advantage in order to subdue his victim.

Lucas tried in vain to struggle against the man's grip, but his attacker was just too powerful.

Captain Bridger and the crew now came running into the Lobby looking for Lucas and his attacker.

Lucas tried to scream a second time. Even a muffled one might be heard by his friends and they would come to his aid, but the hand over his mouth increased it's pressure. He soon started to see black spots before his eyes from the lack of oxygen, but fought the feeling of unconsciousness.

He knew that it he was unconscious, then he would be fully at the mercy of the man and Sanderson. He couldn't go back ... He couldn't go back.  


* * *

The man could see people in the foyer, and he knew that they were looking for the young man. He knew also that he had to do something quickly to escape with his captive or the place would soon be crawling with UEO personnel, police and god knows who else.

The man was trying to access his best options quickly. He was trying to gauge what his best possible escape route was. He could see the van parked from where he was standing and decided that a full frontal assault was probably best, due to the fact that his presence and identity were no longer a secret.

He thought about his captive for another moment who was still trying in vain to struggle against his grip and scream through his hand to get the attention of his friends.

Without hesitation the man pointed the barrel of the odd looking pistol at Lucas's back just above his waist band of his trousers and proceeded to pull the trigger twice.

Lucas had felt the barrel of what he thought was a gun against his back. His fear trebled, but then he felt the two distinct small stings from the darts emitted from the barrel of the weapon. 

The teenager felt his mind immediately start to swim in fog and it only took a moment longer to be lost to the world and crumple back against his kidnapper, unconscious.

That's the easy part, the man thought to himself as he felt the teenager collapse due to the two tranquilizers he administered from the dart gun. He continued to hold onto the boy and without much effort, proceeded to hoist the light weight over his shoulder.

* * *

The Captain and the crew were now all together in a group near the elevators. The man calming walked out from behind his hiding position, with Lucas limp and passed out over his shoulder.

Bridger and the rest of the crew saw the man and let out a loud group cry of outrage as they saw who the men held the person they had been looking for. 

The boy was unconscious and had no way to defend himself or stop himself being carried out of the hotel.

The man saw the crew and simply held the dart gun against the boy's temple, threatening to shoot if they came any closer. The man knew he was bluffing but hoped Lucas's friends didn't suspect the truth about the weapon.

Bridger and Ben had to be physically restrained by their friends from trying to grab at Lucas and the man. They didn't know that the gun was only a tranquilizer. They were desperate to help their vulnerable friend.

The man was now backing out of the hotel lobby, still threatening the unconscious teenager with the gun. He backed up to the door to the black van and unlocked it and with a little force, just to scare Bridger and his friends, threw his captive roughly in the back. 

Lucas never felt his body come into contact with the floor of the van.

The man then closed the door and dived into the driver's seat and took of with all wheels screeching before Bridger and Ben could reach it. The van continued to drive at dangerous speeds out of the car park and out into the streets.

The man stopped the van a little way from the hotel when he thought he wasn't being followed and placed the handcuffs around Lucas's limp wrists and placed a cloth gag in the boy's mouth. He didn't know how long they would be in the van, and wanted to avoid the boy being able to escape or gain anybody's attention until they go to their destination.

The black van continued to travel in a northerly directed for about the next hour.

The place intended was far enough out of the city to stop any escape attempts the young man might make.

The man driving the van once again glanced back over his shoulder at the teenager in the back. The boy looked as though he might be coming around. The feeble attempt didn't last long though and the slight movements he had been making with his hands and head soon ceased as he once again was lost to the effects of the tranquilizers. The man relaxed and continued the drive onto their destination.

Lucas had been awake and aware just long enough to look at his wrist watch.

He thanked God for small mercies that his hands had been cuffed in front of him and not behind his back. He was able to reach a small red button on the outside of the watch face. 

He pressed the button and then faded back into the darkness from whence he had come.  


* * *

Back at the hotel, the lobby was total chaos. There were four police cars parked out the front. There was a large crowd gathered in the centre of the room, all trying to shout at one another.

Police were trying to talk to all the parties involved, trying to work out what was happening. From the number of conversations going on, it was hard to determine what had exactly happened. 

At the end of things, enough was gained to know that some teenager had been kidnapped by a man welding a gun. The man had thrown the unconscious youth in the back of a black van and speed off down the highway.

The police were trying to find out if anybody had seen the number plates of the van and were trying to find out the identity of the young kidnap victim. 

When they heard the name Wolenczak, all knew they had seen the name somewhere. Some had even remembered something about a court case on TV involving that name.

The SeaQuest crew decided that not much was going to be down by the local authorities. Somehow they had to come up with a plan to find Lucas and rescue him.

Bridger was sitting on a couch, looking at the floor. Kristin knew he had taken Lucas's kidnapping badly. The Captain was blaming himself for bringing Lucas on the trip and not being about to protect the boy from the man.

Ben Krieg was pacing behind the couch continually looking at his watch, trying to gauge how much time had elapsed since Lucas went missing. He was trying to put on a brave front and was trying to act tough about hurting the people who held Lucas, but inwardly, it was like somebody had reached in and punched him.

The rest of the crew were gathered around trying to figure out what to do. They were all trying to look to the Captain for advice, but knew that the Captain wasn't coping any better than them with what had happened to Lucas. 

All were trying to think about what they would do the people who had Lucas. All had fear for Lucas written across their faces.

"Ben, would you stop pacing the floor please," Kristin yelled at the Lieutenant. She wasn't angry at him but didn't know how else to express her fear and anger.

"If you look at your watch one more time, Lieutenant," she warned.

That comment brought Bridger out of his brief state of helplessness. He looked up sharply and was looking intently at Ben's wrist watch.

"That's it!" he yelled excitedly. Everybody just looked at him with puzzled faces.

"What's it?" Kristin tried to ask the Captain, not wanting to get her hopes up at a solution.

"The watch," Bridger blurted out. 

"Ben, did Lucas have on his wrist watch when you saw him?" Bridger asked, looking at Ben with pleading eyes, hoping that he was able to find something to help Lucas.

Ben tried to think hard. He knew that the Captain was holding on desperately to the idea that Lucas was wearing a watch. He didn't know how it would help.

"I think so," Ben said not soundly completely sure.

"Yes, he did," O'Neill jumped up and exclaimed. 

"He looked at it when he was locking the door to the room," O'Neill now felt smaller with the eyes of the entire crew all focused on what he just said. All of them now turned to look at the Captain and waited impatiently for him to explain how a watch was going  
to help find the young man.

"A couple of months ago," Bridger explained, "I cheated a little bit and gave Lucas a special watch while we were on shore leave. He thought it was great and wore it everywhere. I picked it out especially. I didn't tell him just how special it was."

"What was so special about it?" Ben spoke out loudly the words that was on everyone else's lips.

"It had a tracking device in it," Bridger said. 

"I was worried with the other attempts people have made at Lucas's life intending to hurt me and decided that I needed to know where he was at all times. I knew that he wouldn't go for something like this if he knew what it was. So I disguised it as a watch and just never told him about the device inside."

The crew just stared at the Captain. They also thought that the move about the watch was very bold. Unfortunately they were all too well aware that Lucas had been the target for people wanting revenge against the Captain in the past. 

Maybe that's why everyone looked out for him just that little bit more. But everyone couldn't believe that the Captain had been sneaky enough to put a tracking device on Lucas. Nobody wanted to be there for the aftermath once Lucas found out.

Bridger was already talking to Commander Ford and Commander Hitchcock aboard the SeaQuest. 

"What sort of signal are we looking for, Captain," Ford asked.

Commander Ford and Katie couldn't believe the story that they had just heard. Lucas kidnapped? 

Probably by the same man that hurt him before. Both exchanged unseen worried glances as they thought of what Lucas may be going through, what the Captain was going through.

Commander Katie Hitchcock had been working furiously at her station since the Captain told her what to look for. "I've got it Captain," she exclaimed and also jumped out of her work station.

Captain Bridger couldn't believe his luck. "Can you track it Katie?" he asked.

"Yes," she stated "It is very faint but constant. Looks like its going in a northerly direction. Headed out of the city" she announced.

That was enough for Bridger. He jumped up and began ordering his crew about what they needed, and how quick they needed it. 

"Keep in contact," Bridger said to Katie and Jonathan as he and the rest of the crew piled into a waiting UEO transport and sped off out of the car park in a northerly direction.

* * *

Lucas had reached his intended destination about half an hour later. He had not awoken again. The man picked up the unconscious teenager from the floor of the van and proceeded up the stairs of the building he had just entered.

A man was standing, looking out the window, when the man came into the room with his captive.

The man turned around to see and motioned for the man to place Lucas in a small room off to the right. Campbell proceeded to the small room and placed the sleeping young man on the bed.

He had noticed that the room was particularly cold and knew that Sanderson probably wanted his hostage to suffer a little. 

Campbell wasn't particularly fond of hurting people and had only gone along with the second attempt on Lucas when threatened with his own life.

He looked down at the teenager on the bed and for once in his long criminal career, wished he hadn't done what he had done. He inwardly wished that someone would come and rescue the kid, because he knew what ever Sanderson had in mind, couldn't be pretty.  


* * *

Bridger and his crew were speeding down the highway. They hoped that they weren't going to be stopped by any police. 

They knew that Lucas was in danger and could be lying somewhere at the mercy of a madman. Ben had been the one driving and thoughts like this made his foot press the pedal down even further.

They started to slow down approximately 80 kilometres from the hotel when they saw a large house off to the right hand side. The place looked deserted, but was the only structure along the roadway.

"That has to be it," Bridger stated as the vehicle they were in pulled up to a stop and he tried to get a closer look with a pair of binoculars. The van had been parked around the back, but was partially visible from the roadway.

All wondered that now that they seemed to know where Lucas was, they were not crazy enough to go charging into the place without having a plan of attack. All surmised that if the man was crazy enough to kidnap Lucas in broad daylight with heaps of witnesses, then he would have a definite plan for their young friend.

Inside, Lucas was beginning to stir from his drugged state.

He tried to open his eyes and found that the room he was in was very cold. He lay on a bed with his hands still restrained with the handcuffs and the gag still placed firmly in this mouth. 

The teenager was trying to look around to try and take in his prison, but position he was in only seemed to send pain radiating down his shoulders and down his arms if he tried to move too much.

Lucas looked up at the sound of the door opening. He knew who would be at the door, but his fear didn't really hit him until he the figure standing in the shadows.

Sanderson... Oh my God! ... This can't be happening! ... _Sanderson!_

Lucas could find any words to say. Couldn't find the voice to scream. He was trembling both from the temperature in the room and the thought of what Sanderson had in store for him.

"I'm glad to see your finally awake," came the voice at the doorway.

Sanderson gestured for the man who had brought Lucas in to lift him up from the bed and follow him into the other room.

Lucas tried again to struggle against his bonds, but his muscles just wouldn't obey his mind. He felt like all his strength was gone, he felt totally helpless and at the mercy of his most feared enemy.

Lucas was unceremoniously dumped in an aluminium chair in the next room. His hands were released from the handcuffs briefly, and Lucas tried to rub some of the stiffness out of them. To his horror, his hands were then bound to the arms of the chair with strong cord. His legs were similarly restrained against the legs of the chair. There was no escape.

Lucas was trying to mumble something through the gag, but could get anything out but muffled grunts and moans. 

Sanderson gestured for the gag to be removed. His captive couldn't be heard from here, he could scream his lungs out and nobody would hear him.

To the madman's surprise, Lucas didn't say anything at all. Lucas worked his jaw, trying to take away the dull ache that existed, but he did not speak or say a word. The boy had fear written all over his face, but still he didn't scream.

"What do you want from me, Sanderson?" Lucas asked in an almost whisper. His throat was parched from no water for the past few hours and getting words out was difficult.

"It's been a long time, Lucas," Sanderson said trying to sound like they were old friends that hadn't seen each other in years.

"Let's skip the small talk, shall we," the boy replied. "Why am I here?"

"I thought that would have been plainly obvious to you," Sanderson said in mock astonishment. 

"You ruined my career, so I am going to cut your's a little short. I am going to _**kill**_ you." 

"I absolutely _**promise**_!"

Lucas could only gulp and swallow hard at the last comment. He knew that Sanderson had planned to kill him all along, but actually hearing the words send cold shivers down his spine.

Lucas looked about the room and tried to survey his surroundings. The room was quite large. He was at the far end sitting close to an office desk of some description. 

The windows had dark curtains draped down them. The was a large distance between where his chair was positioned and where the door at the other end was. He would need a miracle to reach the door handle before being caught.

_'I hope you are coming soon Captain'_ Lucas thought to himself and prayed that his friends could save him in time.

* * *

Outside, Bridger and the rest of the crew had put together their plan to rescue the young man. 

All had voiced their anger at first to the plan Bridger put before them, but then realised that the Captain was probably right.

"I will go in alone," the Captain explained. 

"Once inside, I will try and locate Lucas. Ben you and Ortiz wait at the front door."

"O'Neill, you and Kristin at the back. When I find Lucas, I will give a signal for you all to move in."

"You will need to move in very quickly, once I give the signal," Bridger continued. "Set your weapons for stun only. I don't want Lucas getting caught in any crossfire"

The crew all nodded their heads at the plan and their intended involvement. All were still unhappy about the Captain going in alone, but agreed that all rushing in together at once would cause more trouble than was necessary. 

The primary goal was to get Lucas out of their, after that, all hell could break loose.

"What will your signal be, Captain?" Ben asked.

"You'll know it when you see it, Lieutenant," Bridger stated firmly. He didn't know himself yet, but was convinced that when the time come, the crew would know.

Bridger didn't wait for any more chatter before climbing out of the vehicle and crouching down behind it. He had given a very wane smile to Kristin as he opened the door and got out.

The others made their way into position at the front and rear of the house and waited for the signal they knew would come. 

Kristin had with her a small knapsack containing medical supplies. She didn't know what condition they would find Lucas in. She dreaded to even think.  


* * *

Sanderson had walked around the back of Lucas's chair and opened the top draw of the office desk beside him.

Lucas had tried to see what the man was doing, but couldn't turn around enough to see. He waited with great dread for something to happen.

Sanderson had retrieved the instrument from the drawer and now concealed it behind his back as he now returned to the front of his victim so he could see him.

He gave an evil grin as he brought the instrument out from behind his back for Lucas to see. He was happy with the reaction he got.

Lucas had let out a loud gasp full of fear and fright as he saw what Sanderson now held in his outstretched hand. 

It was a knife ... the handle was finely carved in ivory and had a large stainless steel blade.

Sanderson moved the knife in his hand slightly and the light from the room shone from the razor sharp blade.

He held the knife just a little more closely to the boy, menacing him with it. The boy knew it would slice human flesh in to ribbons. 

All he could picture was the blade piercing his chest and Sanderson then pulling out his heart and squeezing the life of it.

Without further warning, Sanderson drove the tip of the blade into the flesh on the boy's thigh and proceeded to make a large tear in the boy's upper thigh. The teenager was had been wearing denim jeans, but that was no problem for this instrument of torture..

Lucas let out a scream as he felt the white hot pain as the knife entered his leg. The pain was white hot and he couldn't do anything else but scream. Blood started to flow immediately and soon was ebbing freely from the wound left behind.

Sanderson's sidekick had been watching the scene being played out and now looked away as he saw the knife thrust into the boy's leg and heard the God awful scream of pain emitted from the teenager.

Sanderson removed the tip of the knife from Lucas's thigh and held the dripping blade in front of his face to see his blood dripping from it.

Lucas was fighting hard to stay in control. The combination of the residual effects of the tranquilizers and the mindless pain from his leg, were battling him to remain alert and aware of his surroundings.

Sanderson's assistant how hissed for his Boss to come at look outside the window, when he thought he spotted somebody walking around outside.

"They were quicker than I thought," Sanderson said with a little regret.

The other man just looked at Sanderson with bewilderment. "You knew they would be coming?" he said.

"Yes, I knew they would come," Sanderson said calmly. 

"They just got here a little too early for my liking. I thought I would have more time to play with my new toy," he added as he looked at the bleeding boy still tied to the chair.

Sanderson forgot about his torment of Lucas for a moment as he tried to figure out how best to tackle the impending situation.  


* * *

Bridger had been silently walking up the stairway to the second floor when he heard Lucas's scream. 

He felt all his blood turn cold as the sound of Lucas's torment reached him. The thought of Lucas in pain was more than he could stand and he now continued up the rest of the staircase with his teeth gnashed together and anger seething from almost every orifice in his body. 

Somebody was going to pay dearly for hurting Lucas. Somebody was going to pay.

Ben and the rest of the crew had also been unable to avoid hearing Lucas's terrified screams of pain. 

Ben just looked pale when he heard his friend's plight and Kristin had to hold onto O'Neill for support, not wanting to believe that somebody was hurting somebody she loved.

Bridger was about to burst into the room where Lucas was being held when he was surprised to see that the door made a noise and was opened slightly.

Somebody knew he was here...

Bridger cagily walked into the room, not knowing what awaited him. He couldn't believe his eyes when they adjusted to the dim lights in the room.

Seated at the far end of the room was Lucas. The boy was tied to a chair of some sort with rope. He looked to be unconscious.

Bridger could see a dark pool of start to grow at the base of the chair. A closer inspection as he walked closer exposed the pool to be blood. Lucas's blood.

It seemed to be dripping from his leg somewhere.

The boy was restrained in the same fashion as he had described to Kristin and himself that day when talking about Alison. 

Bridger knew that Lucas's kidnapper was playing a very cruel game of remembrance. He was playing cat and mouse and the roles had already been decided upon.

The boy's head was slumped forward and his eyes appeared to be closed. To Bridger's relief, the boy looked up at the sound of someone walking up to him.

Bridger couldn't get the image of the boy's face out of his mind. The boy had been crying, his face was stained crimson. The boy's eyes relayed more pain in a person than Bridger ever wanted to see. 

Lucas was trying to mouth some words, but they wouldn't come. Hot tears of pain ran down his face. The blood continued to pool at the base of the chair.

Bridger was about to say something to Lucas when he was interrupted with an "Ah-um," from the room.

"Glad you could join us, Captain," Sanderson. 

"I was just beginning to kick start this party, if you'll excuse the pun."

Bridger could see that the man now stood along side the frightened teenager. He had what appeared to be a large carving knife in one hand and the one placed on the boy's trembling shoulder.

Bridger got to have a closer look at Lucas's tormentor. He could see the scar that ran down the man's face. He could see the black pools of hate in his eyes.

A man appeared at Bridger from the side, the Captain noted it to be the same man who had chased and ultimately caught Lucas and driven off with him in the van. The man now had a real pistol pointed at the Captain in case he tried to do anything.

Bridger once again examined Lucas's body language. He could see that the boy was only holding on to reality with a thin tether. Lucas knew that the scenario that Sanderson was trying to play out. 

The one he had lived through two years ago. Now the roles were reversed and he was the one tied to the chair awaiting execution.

Lucas's thoughts had eventually hit rock bottom. "So what if you get killed," he told himself. 

After what happened to Alison, maybe it's what you deserve. An eye for an eye. He watched the Captain. He needed the Captain to tell him everything was going to be alright.

"If you take another step, Captain," Sanderson threatened, "I will slit him from ear to ear," and then place the knife against the smooth white skin of Lucas's throat. 

Sanderson pressed it a little closer and make a small nick with the blade, drawing blood just for emphasis.

Bridger looked from Lucas to Sanderson to the man holding the gun. He looked back at the man holding the gun a few times. He knew that if he didn't make a move soon, then Lucas would be hurt further.

Lucas had been watching the Captain's movements, watching his eyeing of the two men. He could almost see the man's brain ticking over. 

Then to his horror seemed to read exactly what the Captain was going to do. He knew what the Captain had in mind, but didn't know how to stop it.

"Nooooooo, Captain," Lucas yelled at his friend.

Sanderson was surprised by the outburst of the young man and was momentarily distracted as he took his off the Captain.

Campbell holding the gun had also looked at the boy with surprised. The man thought the boy too out of it and was shocked to hear him actually speak.

That was all Bridger needed, he lunged at the man with the gun and elbowed the man in the chest, grappling for the weapon in his hand.

The knife at Lucas's throat relaxed slightly as Sanderson watched the two men fight over the gun.

Sanderson heard the noise of the gun discharging but felt an immense pain as the bullet was fired from the weapon and struck him directly in the head. His almost lifeless body fell to the floor with the barrel still smoking.

Bridger and the man had stopped for a millisecond when they saw Sanderson fall. Neither of them could have predicted the next chain of events.

Suddenly the gun discharged a second time. This time the bullet found a different target...

Lucas had seen the two men fight for a second time after he had watch Sanderson fall to the floor. His thoughts were all over the place when he saw the man who appeared to be dead.

He never saw the second bullet discharged. The teenager never felt himself propelled backwards in the chair still restrained by the rope. He barely acknowledged the pain as the bullet ripped into his already battered body.  


* * *

Downstairs, Ben and the crew waiting outside the house had heard the gun shots and thought them to be the signal from Bridger.

All met briefly at the bottom of the stairs and looked at each other with worried faces when they had heard the gun shots. 

They didn't remember seeing Bridger with a gun, and the sounds had come from the same room as a madman and two people they cared deeply for. 

Who had been shot?

Upon entering the room, all stared at the scene before them.

One man, the one who attacked Lucas appeared to be out cold on the floor closest to them. A large bruise was forming on his face where he had been punched by the Captain.

Further away was the man of another man, who they recognized from the Vido-link aboard the SeaQuest was Paul Sanderson, the man who ordered Lucas kidnapped.

Next to Sanderson was a toppled over chair. Bridger was leaning over the chair, very distressed. 

All held their breath as they thought they may be already too late.

All somehow knew that the person tried to the chair was Lucas. All knew that the state the Captain was in meant that Lucas was hurt, possibly dead. All felt their own hearts stop beating, waiting for some sort of confirmation.

Bridger briefly looked up at the people standing at the other end of the room. Something triggered his memory and he noticed that one of the persons was Kristin.

"Get over here quick, Kristin," Bridger snapped at the doctor. The doctor ignored the harshness of the voice and came over to kneel down beside the chair.

The events of the shooting were a blur to Bridger. 

He remembered see Lucas tied to the chair, bleeding from somewhere. He vaguely remembered fighting with another man with a gun. He had seen one bullet hit the man threatening Lucas. That man now lay on the floor, apparently dead.

He couldn't remember hearing the gun going off for a second time. He did however, see the results. 

He saw the chair tip over backwards. He knew that there had been no cry of pain come from Lucas who was tied to the chair and even now, there was no movement.

Moments later he had struck the man he had been fighting with hard with a clenched fist. He didn't even look around to see if the man was unconscious or not. He only had eyes for the up turned chair and it's occupant.

He had hurried over to the chair and knelt down beside it. He had looked at Lucas and noted that a small patch of red now stained the boy's shirt. He saw that the teenager had his eyes closed and his body was very lax and pale.

At first he feared about putting his hands on the boy in case he caused more pain. But when he did try to examine the bullet hole in Lucas's right shoulder, blood was starting to flow a little faster, making his shirt stick slightly to the back rest of the chair.

Bridger had tried calling the young man's name, attempting to arouse him... No response. 

He had shook the boy very slightly, hoping for a reaction, even if was only a groan of pain... Nothing.

The captain now nervously placed two fingers over the nick on the boy's throat, trying to feel for a pulse. '_Oh please, let this boy live'_ was his only thought.

Bridger's family had been taken from him once before. He didn't think he could go through it again. It had almost killed him to lose firstly Robert and then Carol.

But, now looking at this very fragile teenager lying before him, he knew that his world would be lost forever if Lucas died. He now had some understanding of how Lucas had felt when Alison had been shot in similar circumstances. 

He simply didn't want to go on without this one person who brought him so much love and joy.

Kristin could see the emotional state of the Captain. She knew that he was blaming himself for Lucas getting shot. 

She tried to focus on her patient and would have to deal with her own feelings, Nathan's feeling and everything else afterwards.

She now placed two fingers on Lucas's neck and to her relief felt a very faint throb. Like the tracking signal, it was faint, but it was there and constant. She know tuned everything else in the room out and went into doctor mode.

She quickly yelled out her orders for something to be found to stop the bleeding for the bullet wound and the knife slash.

The crew had remained frozen for a moment, but knew that if Kristin was yelling orders, then Lucas was alive. All wanted things to remain the same. All jumped at the chance to help their young friend. 

All felt their own breathing recommence after being on hold to know what Lucas's fate had been.

Bridger had been trying to untie Lucas's hands and feet from the chair. But due to his trembling hands, he was having a tough time of it.

"You just sit back for a moment, Nathan," Kristen tried to say soothingly and motioned for Ben to come in and cut the ropes that held Lucas to the chair.

The Captain was about to protest about being pushed aside, when Kristin explained.

"Lucas may wake up, and he is going to be in a lot of pain and very scared," Kristin proceeded to tell him. 

"I need you there for Lucas. The rest of us can take care of his body for the moment". 

Bridger just nodded agreement to her suggestion and moved slightly to sit beside Lucas's head. His hand unconsciously started to smooth back the hair on the boy's forehead.

Twenty minutes later, Lucas was being placed in a waiting ambulance and taken to the nearest hospital. Kristin and Nathan were with him inside. The rest of the crew followed in the vehicle they had left outside on the highway.  


* * *

Upon arriving at the hospital, Lucas had been rushed into emergency surgery to repair the damage to his shoulder and stitch the gash in his leg. 

It was approximately six hours later when a doctor emerged from the theatre, ready to confront a very frustrated SeaQuest crew.

Everyone had been nervously pacing the floor in the waiting room. All were too worried about Lucas to sit down and get something to eat as had been suggested to them by an orderly about four hours ago.

A short, balding doctor now stood before them with news of their friend. He could see the emotion on the faces in the room. He felt the fear for the boy's recovery. He sensed the love that surrounded Lucas.

"He's made it through surgery," he started explaining to everybody, but looking only at Bridger and Kristin.

"The bullet went right through his shoulder. Did a lot of muscle damage, but not much else," the doctor continued to say.

"We have stitched up the tear in his leg. That is going to keep that young man off his feet more than the bullet wound," he didn't know how much detail the people wanted to hear. 

"The gash was approximately 20 cm long but thankfully only about 2 centimetress deep. Whatever made the gash, nicked a vein. That's why there was so much blood. Took 35 stitches and three staples for close the wound" he added.

"For the next few days, all he needs is rest," the doctor continued. 

"He is going to need regular pain killers for quite a while and crutches for the next two months until his leg heals. But after that he should make a full recovery." The doctor gave a smile at the end of his description of Lucas's injuries, trying to reassure his worried friends and family.

Kristin and Nathan had inwardly made a list of all the injuries described, and knew that Lucas would be in pain for the next few weeks at least.

"Can we see him," Ben Krieg asked above everybody else's sighs of relief and wincing at the description given.

"Yes, for a few minutes only," the doctor commented. 

"He will be very groggy from the anaesthetic. I will have nursing staff monitor him carefully until he wakes up. He may be unsure about where he is and what has happened at first. I don't won't him getting any more upset than is necessary, it will only cause him more stress and pain."

"It would be good to have someone familiar be there for him when he does come around."

All had heard the doctor's request and all looked at Nathan with questioning glances. Nathan knew he didn't need to be asked who would be the volunteer. He would have jumped on anybody else that spoke before him.

The crew and Bridger had to wait until Lucas was settled in the Intensive Care Unit before they could go in and see him. The nurse was strict and adamant that they could only see the young patient for a few moments. An extra large chair had been placed beside the hospital bed, intended for the Captain to remain after everybody else left.

Lucas was the only patient on that floor at the moment. The crew tiptoed up to the bed to see their friend. All could scarcely believe that the still and silent figure laying asleep on the bed was their young, normally exuberant and energetic teenage genius.

Lucas was almost as pale as the starched linen sheets he was laying on. There was a drip attached to his wrist with a clear fluid dripping from the bag on the stand beside the bed. 

Behind the bed there seemed an endless array of beeping machines and monitors that drew graphs attached to Lucas with lengths of cable. Everybody had a large lump in their throat as they watched the young man sleep.

Lucas was dressed in a hospital gown now. His torn and bloody jeans and blood stained shirt had been cut from him in the operating room. His shoulder was heaving bandaged as was his thigh. The thigh looked double the size of the other one with all the wrappings. The ugly stitches that adorned his wound were thankfully hidden from view.

It seemed at though they had only just walked over to Lucas when the stern looking nurse from earlier was ushering them all out again. 

Ben was almost wanting to argue the point as he looked at his young friend, but had to be led away and supported by his crew members.

Kristin had left with the other crew members telling Nathan that she would have someone return with a change of clothes for him and Lucas from the hotel.

Bridger smiled and gave Kristin a gentle kiss on the cheek for her efforts to make him feel better.

Bridger knew he wouldn't be feeling good as long as Lucas remained in this hospital.  


* * *

It was almost midnight before Nathan had awoken from a restless sleep on the chair beside Lucas. He had drifted off after everybody had left, his body no longer to cope with the emotional and physical stress of the day's events. 

He had not heard the constant stream of nurses and orderlies that checked on Lucas and the machines during the night.

He looked around, blinking until he found himself sufficiently awake. He eyed the machines for himself to make sure everything was beeping and flashing as it should. Lucas still looked the same. 

The anaesthetic had caused the lines of pain and the stress to fall away from the boy's sleeping features. For just a moment, it looked as though the boy was just sleeping as he would in his bunk on the SeaQuest.

Nathan knew that there was a lot of healing on the road ahead for Lucas. He knew after the physical injuries had healed, the mind needed to be repaired also. The terror the boy had gone through over the last month couldn't have happened without leaving some sort of scar on the teenager. 

The Captain also knew that Lucas would be very reluctant to talk about what had happened. He knew it would be up to him to draw the young man out and deal with his pain.

Suddenly, Lucas gave a small cough and tried to move about on the bed. The motion caused his face to contort at the pain it caused in his shoulder and leg.

Bridger was there in a second, trying to talk softly to the boy and asking him to open his eyes. He wanted the boy to wake up and start talking and moving like the old Lucas.

Lucas could hear a voice talking to him. For a moment he had to concentrate before his brain decided he knew the voice as the Captain's. He knew he hurt all over.

It took a little longer for his mind to remember the events that had occurred. He didn't know why his shoulder hurt so bad. He knew why his leg hurt. 

He remembered the knife and the gleam of the blade before Sanderson had stabbed him with it,

_Sanderson_ . ... What had happened to Sanderson?

The sudden thought of the madman made Lucas open his eyes and try to sit up in a hurry trying to look around the room looking for his attacker. It only resulted in waves of pain and dizziness unlike he had known before.

Bridger had been startled to see the young man try and still bolt right up in bed. He had seen the wild look in his eyes and registered that Lucas was probably trying to see where Sanderson was.

"It's okay, Lucas," Bridger said as he tried to tell the boy to lay back down on the bed. He started rubbing Lucas's uninjured arm, trying to get him to calm down and relax.

With the escalation of his heart rate, and his actions to try and sit up, the machines and monitors in the room had begun to go haywire and the noise had set a team of doctor's and nurses into the room looking for the emergency.

All but one nurse had back tracked when they saw that there was no such emergency.

The sole nurse walked quietly over to the bed to assess her patient. The boy was laying back against Bridger's shoulder. The nurse just looked at the Captain and gave her nod of understanding and left after quickly checking the instruments.

Lucas sighed loudly and his breath was beginning to come in hiccups. He was now turned on his side, head buried against the Captain's chest. Bridger had both arms wrapped around the boy, rubbing his back in large circular motions and whispering soothing words.

Lucas's brief period of wakefulness didn't last long as his body demanded to rest. The boy drifted off and was sound asleep against the Captain moments later.

No words had been spoken during his wake time. Both the Captain and Lucas were content enough just to be there with each other.  


* * *

Over the next few days, Lucas slowly improved. He was taken off the monitors and moved into a private room in the hospital. 

The room was soon overflowing with flowers, gifts and cards of _'Get well soon' messages_ from crew and UEO personnel.

Bridger had told the crew and Kristin about Lucas's reaction when he awoke, but nobody said anything to Lucas. 

She suspected it was going to be a long and painful journey over the next few months. All knew that they would be there when Lucas decided the time was right.

On the fourth day after the shooting. Kristin came into Lucas's room beaming at the Captain and her young patient. She couldn't wait to tell them the good news.

"Guess what?" she said excitedly.

"What?" Lucas said trying to sound excited. 

Lucas had re-awoken after the first time, feeling better emotionally, but all had noticed that the boy was still very withdrawn and had not spoken a word about his ordeal.

"You get to go home today," Kristin announced to everybody in the room.

"Go home,? Lucas stammered. He could hardly believe his luck. He knew he wasn't anywhere fully healed yet, but longed for the security and safety offered by the SeaQuest.

"How did you manage that?" Bridger looked sceptically at Kristin.

"I just told the doctors," she said smiling, "That the SeaQuest was due to take off from port tomorrow and wasn't about to leave without its most valuable crew member," she continued to smile at Lucas.

Bridger and the rest of the crew were now smiling and staring at the doctor in disbelief. 

All were happy about the new, but all knew Lucas was not healed and didn't know how Kristen had managed it.

"But," and she paused just to get Lucas's attention. "You will be confined to the Captain's quarters until further notice. You will be requiring regular pain medication upon my request and you are to be a model patient," she said trying to sound stern.

"Aye Aye, Captain," Lucas said and gave a mock salute which sent everybody in the room into fits of laughter.

Later that afternoon, Lucas was just about jumping out the bed to get going.

Kristin walked into the room holding up two crutches in her hands and then passed them to Lucas.

Lucas spied them with disgust, "What do I need those for?" he said pretending that there was nothing wrong with his leg. 

To be honest his leg stilled hurt quite a lot. His shoulder gave a dull ache every now and then. He had tried, sneakily on two occasions to stand on his injured leg before he was told too, and was scolded swiftly by Kristin and Bridger as he had almost collapsed both times from the white hot pain that shot up his leg when it touched the floor.

"Don't worry, Doc," came the reply from Ben Krieg. 

"If he doesn't behave himself, I'll get O'Neill and Ortiz here to sit on him," as he winked at Lucas.

Lucas didn't have a chance to use the crutches at first. Bridger and Kristin insisted that two orderlies carry him out to the waiting UEO transport. 

The crutches could be used once he was back aboard the SeaQuest. Lucas had only rolled his eyes at this suggestion and had replied that he wasn't a baby to be carried.

Kristin had threatened him with a sedative until they got back to the boat if he didn't do what he was told, and he had quickly ceased trying to argue with her.  


* * *

TWO MONTHS LATER...

Lucas sat on a chair around a table in the ward room. His injured leg was propped up on a stool underneath the table. His vision was fixed on five cards in his hand as he was trying to concentrate on the game of poker unfolding before him.

The teenager seemed to be more relaxed tonight. More relaxed than he had been since returning from the hospital. At first, he was very subdued and withdrawn.

He had slept for the first week constantly as a result of the medication prescribed by doctor Westphalen. His shoulder had healed just fine and hardly bothered him at all now.

He had many attempts at gaining confidence with the crutches. Most of them had ended with Lucas on the floor in an embarrassed heap with one of the crew members helping him up. But he was getting better. The doctor said he would only need to use them for another couple of weeks.

The scar was noticeable after the stitches were removed. A permanent reminder Lucas thought to himself.

Ben Krieg was trying to look over and see what Lucas had in his hand. He was losing again. The other game players were Bridger, O'Neill, Ortiz and Kristin would had been dragged into the game at the last moment. 

She had protested at first, but then thought it would be a good opportunity to see how Lucas was getting on socially on the boat after his injuries.

The ward room was lit up and the Video Link was set to a news television channel, but the sound had been muted.

Lucas had been sitting facing the screen. Ben Krieg had his back to it. The others could see the screen from various angles if necessary.

Lucas attention from his cards and Ben's constant spying was distracted suddenly with the screen coming to life with what appeared to be a building with police cars and their lights flashing and police security tape tacked up all over the place..

A reporter stood outside the building and was relaying what was happening to the audience. Lucas found the remote control and turned the sound up and started listening to the report.

"Police have no idea who would want to killed the doctor," the reported stated. "Scientific officers are now combing the area for any leads to the suspect."

Lucas couldn't understand that for some reason, the story was starting to make the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He continued to watch the story with a sense of uneasiness, but he couldn't for the life of him work out why.

The others had noticed Lucas's slight nervousness and now watched the story with a little more interest.

"The building was reported to belong to a discredited doctor Michael Owens," the man continued to report. 

"The doctor was a well known plastic surgeon but had been deregistered by the medical board about 5 years ago for completing unnecessary surgery. The cause of the doctor's death is unknown, but police are now treating it like a homicide".

This comment started sending of all sorts of alarms bells to Lucas and he was now inwardly trembling and his face had paled considerably.

"Are you in pain, Lucas?" Kristin now asked the teenager, noticing his pale complexion. "Is your leg hurting too much?"

Lucas didn't speak but gave a brief nod to the doctor signalling he was okay.

Bridger was trying to work out why Lucas appeared scared. The report was only about the death of a doctor. He was now more interested in looking at Lucas than the screen.

"Police say that a number of vital clues escaped that may be able to identify the murderer," the reporter stated.

"The doctor was not only a renowned plastic surgeon, but specialised in the reconstruction of faces."

Lucas could deny the uneasy feeling that was beginning to plague him all over again. He wanted to run from the room. 

_'But he's dead, you saw him dead'_ Lucas was trying to stay calm, but was fighting a losing battle.

Bridger and Kristin were no longer watching the TV but were concerned about why Lucas was suddenly wanted to flee the room, but something made him stay and continue to watch. 

All had a bad thought in the back of their minds ..._no it couldn't be_. ... was the silent thoughts. He was shot dead at that house they all said silently.

"The theory from the authorities is that the doctor was murdered by a disgruntled patient," continued the reporter. 

"The doctor had a lot of shady patients over the last few years. People wanting their looks to be altered so they couldn't be recognized. But it just a theory," was added to the end.

"Police say that the only clues they are willing to release to the media is the fact that some sort of message was apparently written in the doctor's own blood."

"Nobody has been able to make out what the message means to date," the voice stated.

"The message is in the form of words which say,_** 'This isn't over yet'**_ and the message is signed _**S."**_

"Police have no idea who the message is from or who the intended recipient is," Tim Waker for CNN news, the reporter said as he signed off.

All could only looked stunned at the screen. They hadn't heard what they thought they heard, could they?

All turned to look at Lucas. 

Lucas just looked at the screen. He knew who the message was for. The **_'S'_** couldn't possibly be mistaken. 

The man was even bold enough to leave a calling card for him.

Bridger could only walked over to Lucas and put his arms around the boy. He couldn't find the words he wanted to say. 

He knew that Lucas knew the message was probably meant for him.

The words in the message danced around in Lucas's mind... _**'This isn't over yet'**_

END OF PART ONE


	2. RETURN OF OLD FOES

**HAUNTINGS TRILOGY  
**

**  
RETURN OF OLD FOES**

**By Jules**

**PART TWO OF THE TRILOGY**

A middle aged man with a reddish looking wig was sitting in the corner booth of a cafe on the strand. He thoughts wandered as he tried to work out how his plan would come into effect.

He unconsciously rubbed the spot on his face where the scar had been. There were other scars now, but they were well hidden under neath the shock of red hair. His skin now appeared smooth and unblemished.

His revenge would be slow, but memorable. His fists were clenched into tight balls as he remembered the teenager with blond hair who had caused him so much trouble, and now, had slipped through his fingers again.

It wouldn't be long he told himself. The plans were almost finished. He just had to put the finishing touches to them. Lucas Wolenczak would rue the day he heard the name Paul Sanderson.

The man got up from the table, leaving a dollar bill for the cup of coffee. He proceeded to walk in a westerly direction along the beach. He had on a long trench coat and dark sunglasses.

After a brief stroll, he was close enough to spot his intended target and observe from distance unseen.

The man slipped a small piece of paper into an old glass coke bottle and let if drift with the tide. With his task completed, he remained only for a few moments longer, not wanting to spoil his scheme and risk being seen.

* * *

Lucas Wolenczak was laying on his stomach, leaning over the edge of the jetty, trying to peer over the edge into the blue water below. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and his old sneakers.

He was making chirping noises and clapping his hands trying to signal his dolphin friend, Darwin.

The dolphin had swum around the other side of the jetty and now let his tail come down onto the water with a loud splash. The result was a large spray of water coming over the edge of the dock and soaking the teenager.

"Darwin, you rotten sneak," Lucas stammered whilst grinning hugely and trying to wring out the excess water from his clothes.

Captain Nathan Bridger had been seated on the porch of the small cabin at the end of the jetty and now laughed out loud at the sight of his young friend dowsed with the briny water.

Darwin disappeared for a few moments whilst his friend continued to yell fake obscenities at water.

The dolphin re-emerged after a brief swim away from the jetty and returned with something grasped between his beak. It was shiny and the sun seemed to gleam off it's surface.

"What have you got there, boy?" Lucas said to his fishy friend.

Bridger's view of the conversation between the dolphin and Lucas was obscured. He could not see the object Darwin had found floating amongst the waves.

Lucas bent over the edge of the jetty again and pulled the thing from the dolphin's mouth. Darwin readily let his friend take his surprise find.

"Look's like you hit the jackpot," Lucas said jokingly to the animal as he recognized the object as a beaten up glass bottle. He noted a splash of white inside and unscrewed the lid of the coke bottle. He shook the bottle a little and the object coughed up its contents into the teenager's open hand.

Lucas was now in a kneeling position on the wooden dock. He put twisted the lid back on the bottle and put it down beside him. He could see the small white item was a slip of paper. He thought it might be a lolly wrapper at first or a receipt from a store's cash register.

He unfolded the slip of paper and looked at the hidden surface to see what was written on it.

Lucas could not hide his gasp or the terrified look that contorted his face as he read the words written on it. This could not be happening again.

" NOOO !"

The only words now running around in his head now were **_'This isn't over yet ... This isn't over yet!" _**

Lucas now jumped up from his kneeling position and ran down the jetty towards the house. He still clutched the piece of paper in his hand. He continued to run, right past his new dad Captain Bridger and didn't look back until he reached his bedroom and slammed the door.

He was now leaning heavily against the other side of the closed door. His breath was coming in strangled gasps and his eyes were wide with fright. He couldn't believe the man had gotten so close to him without being noticed.

The last three months had seemingly been free of demons and monsters. He could almost walk around without fear. He thought that his life and that of the Captain may be beginning to become normal again.

Now, after reading the note, he was sure that all the bad memories he had ever had were back with a vengeance.

He gingerly uncurled his fingers from around the piece of paper and again looked at what it read. His mouth was dry, his breathing got raspier and he felt like his legs would betray him at any moment. He slide down the door and now sat with his legs drawn up tightly to his chest. The words just seemed to dance around his mind. Torturing him to no end.

_**"I've been watching you, Lucas. I know where you are now. You can run but you can't hide." S.**_

When will this nightmare ever end...

* * *

Bridger had seen the teenager run through the house almost at the speed of sound.

He didn't know what caused the boy to run like that, but decided he had better investigate. He climbed the staircase in his house and reached the closed door to Lucas's bedroom.

The Captain knocked lightly on the door. At first there was no response. Lucas had heard Bridger at the door. He needed to come up with a plausible excuse that could be believed without actually telling him what happened.

Bridger was about to knock again with a little more determination this time when the door became ajar. He opened the door very slowly and walked inside.

Lucas had moved himself to the bed. He had managed to get his breathing under a little more control, but the tension in his neck and shoulders were still evident. Bridger was immediately suspicious. He knew that the teenager was upset about something, but what?

The teenager's emotions had taken a battering over the last three months. He had been kidnapped, beaten, tortured and God's knows what else. He wanted Lucas to share his feelings with him, but knew it was probably pushing to hard to ask.

Bridger just sat on the bed beside the young man and held him. He didn't want to force the boy to talk if he didn't want to and knew that Lucas would tell him in his own words in his own time.

"Captain, when can we go back to the SeaQuest?" Lucas asked as he still sat enveloped in the warm embrace. He needed to feel safe. He knew that the only place he probably felt a little safe was 100 feet under the ocean. Sanderson couldn't possibly find him there... could he?

"I talked to Jonathan this morning," Bridger said trying to answer the question without reading too much into it. 

"Seems as though the repairs and routine maintenance maybe finished at early as two days away." He was hoping this news would perk up the teenager's mood. It only seemed to cause it to turn darker still.  
_  
Two more days_... _Two more days_ with him watching me. _Two more days_ that he could get to me. _Two more days_ until we can get the hell off this island. Lucas thought to himself. _Two more days_ to feel very afraid.

Lucas had gotten his emotions under control, but needed to clear his head a little. He needed to get the thoughts and memories of Sanderson out of his mind. 

"Would it be alright if I went for a ride this afternoon on your bike?" the teenager asked.

Bridger was a little apprehensive at first. He didn't know if he wanted Lucas riding anywhere at the moment in this frame of mind.

Lucas could handle the machine, there was no worry about that. Due to his lack of knowledge about the situation that was unfolding and fact that he was running out of reasons _'why not'_ he reluctantly agreed.

"Okay, but only down the dirt road at the back of the house towards the beach and back," Bridger said in compromise.

Half an hour later, Lucas emerged from his bedroom, fully dressed in his riding gear, helmet in hand. He held out his hand towards the Captain gesturing for the keys to the black motorcycle parked in the garage outside.

Bridger put the keys in the teenager's palm and held them there briefly, "You be careful you hear?"

"Yeah, I hear you," Lucas said. "Don't worry, I will take it easy."

Bridger watched his young son walk out towards his motorcycle ready to take his planned ride. Something was gnawing at his gut, telling him that something wasn't right, but he couldn't put a finger on it at the moment.

* * *

At first, with the wind at his back and the speed of the motorcycle underneath him, Lucas Wolenczak almost felt normal. Almost. He had pulled up outside a small shop a few kilometres away from his house to buy a drink before heading back.

Lucas almost felt relaxed, but failed to notice that he was the centre of someone's attention. On the other side of the shop were a few cafe style tables where people could enjoy a cup of coffee and a chit chat. 

Sitting at the furtherest table away from Lucas, was the man with the red wig. He still had on his dark glasses and hid most of his hair under a cream coloured panama style hat.

Sanderson hadn't expected to see the teenager again before his plan was put into action. But looking at the opportunity that now lay before him, he couldn't resist. He wasn't in a position to take the boy yet, not just yet. Maybe he could just scare him a little more, like he intended to with the message in the bottle this morning.

Sanderson knew that the new game he had in mind for Lucas Wolenczak would be played on two fronts. Firstly, a physical one once the boy was back in his grasp and unable to escape. 

Secondly and probably more rewarding was the psychological campaign. If he could weaken the boy's tough outer skin before his physical attack, so much the better. The man left some money on the table for his cup of coffee and snuck around the back towards a waiting vehicle.

Lucas had put his helmet back on and now started slowly back towards his house. He knew that his Dad would be looking for him soon. He headed back down the dirt track trying to lose himself in the soft hum of the machine.

About halfway back down the track, Lucas could see another vehicle in his rear view mirror. The vehicle was some distance away yet, but seemed to be quickly gaining. At first Lucas took no notice of it. Many vehicles travelled on the back roads of the island. It was the one positive thing about driving on the island, you didn't come face to face with the traffic problems of the mainland.

When Lucas readjusted the mirror's to get a better view of the vehicle, he noted that the car was now almost on top of him. The dust he was churning up behind him was now collecting in a plume in front of the grill of the vehicle behind him. Lucas looked back again and almost lost his balance there and then on the big motorcycle. The vehicle behind him nudged the back wheel of his bike. So much so that Lucas had to swerve in a hurry to miss a large rock in the middle of the road.

Lucas regained his balance, but now was looking back over at his shoulder, trying to understand why the vehicle had struck his bike. Without warning the vehicle struck his bike again.

The result this time was Lucas swerving off to the left hand side of the road and screaming loudly as he saw a large tree in front of him. He tried to avoid it, but managed to clip the side as he careered past uncontrollably.

Lucas felt himself getting separated from the bike. He felt the bark from the tree tear at the denim jacket he wore. Thankfully the jacket was thick, but Lucas thought he could feel stinging on the skin of his upper arm, signalling that in some places, the jacket had been torn away enough to expose naked flesh.

He felt himself cart-wheeling over the handle bars of the motorcycle. Every single breath of air was knocked from his lungs as he crashed ever so hard into the ground. His head hit the ground with a sickening thud and Lucas Wolenczak knew nor felt any more at that moment . He lay on the ground were he had fallen crumpled and bloody.

The car that had caused the accident, pulled up alongside the road and the driver now got out to survey his work. He walked over to where the bike lay. The bike had a few minor dents that were repairable. The front headlight had been smashed and one of the wheels was slightly buckled.

Sanderson now stood over the helpless teenager. He didn't need to worry about the kid recognizing him for the moment. The boy showed no signs of regaining consciousness. The jacket he wore had large tear marks down one side and blood now started to soak into the fabric.

The boy's helmet had been dislodged by the impact and now lay some metres away with a large dent on the side. The man could see a large gash on the side of the boy's head underneath his hair. This caused blood to flow freely down his face and soak into the collar of the jacket. Satisfied that he had done enough at this stage he bent down and placed a small slip of paper into the jacket's right hand pocket. He knew that the boy would find his little message eventually.

Sanderson quickly left the scene as he heard the sound of another vehicle coming. He couldn't risk being spotted. He still had work to do. He drove away and never looked back towards the injured teenager.

* * *

Kristin Westphalen had returned to the house a short time after Lucas left.

Bridger had told her about his strange mood and how he had let him go off on the motorcycle a little earlier. Kristin wasn't overly worried, she trusted Lucas and Nathan both.

Bridger just kept looking at the clock. The teenager had been gone for over two hours now. He will be back shortly Bridger admonished himself. You can't keep him chained up all of the time. Nothing is going to happen, just relax.

No matter how many times the Captain repeated those words. He couldn't really bring himself to believe them. During his thoughts, the video phone rang and Bridger answered it to find a young police constable peering at him from the other side of the screen.

If Bridger had been worried before, now he could feel his insides slowly knotting together in fear.

"Can I speak to Doctor Westphalen, please?" the constable asked. Kristin had heard the request and now stood in front of the screen. She had one arm on Bridger's shoulder telling him not to jump to conclusions.

"This is Doctor Westphalen," Kristin replied.

"Oh, Doc," the constable said. "Seems there has been some sort of accident down here. I was wondering if you could come and have a look at this fellow for me?"

"I don't think he is too bad off, but he has got himself a nice gash on the side of his head and some deep gravel grazes. I was hoping you will be able to tell me if he needs to be transported to the mainland for treatment. He was unconscious went I found him and I haven't been able to wake him up yet."

Kristin could feel hear own fears starting to gather, but tried to keep composed. "What sort of accident, constable?" she asked nervously.

"Got a young fellow here who has come off his bike by the look of things?" the constable replied and was about to go into more details when he saw the two people on the other side of the screen visibly pale.

Kristin was determined to push all bad thoughts out of her mind. There are heaps of young people on this island, Lucas isn't the only one.

Bridger piped up the courage to ask the next question for both of them. "Officer, did this fellow have any identification on him to say who he is?" He dreaded the answer.

"Yeah, I managed to locate a wallet on him," the constable answered. "Strange sounding name, something like Woodchuck, Woolenburg?"

"Wolenczak," Bridger pronounced for the officer. And put his head in his hands as he now regrettably knew the identity of the unfortunate rider.

"Yeah, that's it," the constable said with surprise "Do you know him, Sir?"

"His name is Lucas Wolenczak and he is my son?" Bridger stated. "How far away was this accident?"

"About ten kilometres from the little shop on the back road. Do you know it?"

"Yes, we know where it is, Officer, we will be right there," Kristin answered.

* * *

As Bridger and Kristin drove down the dirt track at the back of their island retreat, the accident scene was identified by flashing red and blue lights from the police vehicle parked nearby. Bridger pulled up alongside the police sedan and raced over to where the officer was standing.

Kristin had grabbed her bag as she exited the vehicle and now ran over to the place where Lucas lay beside the tree. She took a sharp intake of breath as she surveyed his body and saw the injuries. It took all of her professional training to put her personal feelings aside for the moment.

Bridger could not believe that the crumpled body on the ground belonged to the teenager that he had shared a conversation with not more than three hours ago. He could see a gash on the right side of his head just above his ear. It oozed blood still. 

The blood was being to slow, but Bridger saw it had been quite extensive earlier due the to dried stain that covered most of the side of his face and further on down to his neck. Lucas's blond hair was caked with dried blood and was massed together with sticky clumps.

Somebody had placed a folded jacket underneath the youth's head for comfort. Bridger sat down on the ground and now caressed the uninjured side of Lucas's face. He was talking softly to the boy, telling him that it would be alright. He desperately wanted the teenager to wake and give him a smart comment, but there was nothing.

Kristin had pulled out some cotton gauze and now soaked the material with a small bottle of water that was passed to her. Once wet, she dabbed at the wounds on Lucas's temple. At first there was no reaction, but on the third passing of the cloth over the severed skin, Lucas gave a small, barely audible moan. 

Kristin stopped what she was doing for a moment, trying to see if the boy moaned again. When he failed to respond again, she recommenced her dabbing, attempting to clean the dirt from the gash.

Lucas now moaned softly a few more times. He was trying to move his head from side to side. Kristin was admonishing him softly, telling him to lay still and let her help him.

The teenager's eyelids began to flutter. He was trying to open his eyes. It was an effort. They felt as though they were weighed down by some unseen force. He moved his head a few more times but this only resulted in a bad headache starting behind his eyes. He tried to lift his hand to his forehead to massage the pain away. His actions were rewarded with short stabs of pain from the deep grazes on his upper arm.

Kristin could see that Lucas was trying to regain consciousness, but knew it was becoming a task. She could see the pain etched on his face and the boy trying to open his eyes and find out why he was lying on the hard ground.

Kristin made the decision that Lucas could be better treated back at the house. She had much more equipment back there, and Lucas could rest a lot more. She didn't know what the extent of his injures were yet and she wanted to prevent him flailing around due to pain. Sudden or improper movements would only cause him more distress and discomfort.

Bridger kept trying to rouse the teenager. The Captain keep talking softly to the boy and reassuring him that he would be fine. Kristin was here and she would help him get better. It was times such as these, when Lucas was sick or injured, that the mightiest Captain in UEO waters felt helpless. All of his natural sense of what was right, what needed to be done and leadership qualities seemed to take a huge nose dive straight out the window.

The Captain had been cradling the boy's head in his lap so he could help restrict the movements until Kristin could examine him a little more. Lucas looked so much younger than his seventeen years.

"Nathan, I think it would be better if we could move him back to the house," Kristin said. 

"I am going to give him a mild sedative and a pain killer before we lift him. That way he won't feel anything now or later on when I tend to his injuries."

Bridger just nodded his head signalling his agreement to the treatment. He watched as Kristin give Lucas the injection of the pain killer. The sedative came in a different form. It was a small container with a plastic black disc on the end. Kristin placed the disc against Lucas's uninjured arm and pressed the trigger.

Although Lucas had been trying to regain consciousness, the sedative quickly reversed that and soon the two adults watched the boy's eyelids flutter closed. They didn't reopen. His head turned slightly to the side in Bridger's lap and he was asleep. Kristin put her stethoscope to his chest just to check on his breathing. It sounded okay.

The young constable had been watching Kristin's medical administrations and now helped the man present to place the sleeping young man into the back seat of their car. He had not had any formal introductions at this stage. He had been told about Dr Westphalen's abilities and this was the reason he contacted her in the first place, not knowing that the young rider was related to him.

When he was introduced to Captain Bridger, he couldn't believe his ears. Almost everyone had heard of the invincible Captain Nathan Hale Bridger of the SeaQuest. The vessel was supposed to the best the UEO had to offer. Here he was standing in front of him.

The constable found himself lost for words. He wondered why this most famous of famous sea Captain's was held up on a near unpopulated island away from the public eye. He didn't ask the questions he had in his head and didn't receive any explanations from the person himself.

Kristin was busy getting Lucas settled in the back seat of the car. Although it was only a short trip back to the house, she didn't want to cause him further pain or discomfort. They had brought a number of blankets and pillows with them as they dove out the door earlier.

Kristin now went about tucking the blankets in around the teenager to prevent as much movement as possible on the way back. She placed one of the soft pillows under his head. She brushed the hair from his eyes and looked down at him fondly in this private moment alone with him. Why was it always the innocent ones that suffered? Why this child? Why Lucas?

Whilst Kristin had been tending to Lucas in the car, the constable and Bridger decided to take a closer look at the roadway to try and determine the cause of the accident. There were no skid marks to speak of. If Lucas had been travelling too fast and tried to brake fast, there should have been some marks on the road to show is path of travel.

There was another set of tracks on the road, but it was assumed that these were from the police vehicle travelling in the same direction as Lucas when he come across the accident. They examined the tree that Lucas had collided with and found only a few pieces of missing bark to show where the teenager had struck the tree. Both were scratching their heads. Lucas was not an experienced rider, but there was no evidence present to indicate that he had trouble enough to cause him to come off the motorcycle.

Soon, Kristin was telling Bridger that they needed to make a start back home to attend to Lucas. Bridger said his goodbyes to the police constable and thanked him for his help and assistance. 

Something in the back of Bridger's mind told him he should send Commander Ford and a couple of other crew members from the SeaQuest to come and take a closer look at the accident scene. He made himself a mental note to contact the boat later on that day.

* * *

Bridger was the one to drive home. He actually wanted to sit in the back seat with Lucas, but assigned that role to Kristin due to her medical expertise.

When they got back to the house, Bridger alighted from the vehicle and opened the back door ready to take Lucas out of the car and upstairs for treatment. He hoisted the teenager in his arms and grunted a little bit at the surprise dead weight the boy carried. 

Lucas normally a skinny teenager and not much too him, but obviously the good living whilst on the island had done him some good Bridger thought to himself.

The sedative continued to do its job and Lucas did not stir in the slightest as he was taken inside the house and up the stairs to his bedroom. Bridger laid him on the bed and started to remove his riding boots. The helmet he was wearing had been taken off at the scene by the constable.

Thankfully it took most of the impact as he struck the ground, but looking at the crumpled helmet and visor now, Bridger realised how lucky Lucas had been. The injuries he sustained could have been a life more serious or even life threatening. Bridger tried to force thoughts like that from his mind and he tried to focus on the teenager lying on the bed who needed him at the moment.

He took of the denim jeans Lucas had been wearing. They were still intact and would see another day. The denim jacket on the other hand was a different matter. Bridger decided that he would need Kristin's help to remove it from Lucas. Some of the material was stuck to the deep grazes on his upper arm and he didn't think he could remove it on him own without hurting the teenager.

By the time he had gotten Lucas a little more comfortable on the bed, Kristin appeared with her full medical kit. She had bandages and alcohol, scary looking instruments that Bridger thought were better left alone and other bits and pieces she needed to treat their favourite patient.

Kristin rechecked Lucas's breathing and heart rate. She looked at the damaged jacket and pondered on the best method of removal. With a little hesitation she decided that it would need to be cut, at least a little. Now she actually was glad that the teenager was asleep and could not see what she was about to inflict upon his favourite riding jacket.

Eventually she was able to compromise slightly and was able to get the jacket off of Lucas by removal of only the sleeves. Maybe he could wear it as a vest type thing she said as she lifted it into the light to see her work. Bridger took it from her and laid it over a chair in the room. Lucas could decide later if he wanted to keep it or not. They could buy him a new one for his birthday in a few weeks time in necessary.

Kristin used a small pair of tweezers and a little alcohol on a cloth to clean the abrasions on his left arm. The tweezers were used to pull small fragments of denim from the wounds. The alcohol would stop any infection.

The wounds were not deep but looked very angry and would still hurt a great deal over the next few days. She left the head would until last as it needed to most attention. She once again used the alcohol to clean the dirt and other debris from the gash.

The gash on Lucas's temple took five stitches. It had been a little deeper than the abrasions on his arms and would need to be closed artificially in order for it to heal properly and show little scarring later.

After Kristin had finished her doctoring, she told Nathan that it would be probably morning before Lucas awoke from the sedative. His body needed to rest after the pounding it had taken.

Bridger and Kristin had left Lucas's room for a short time and had a very sparse evening meal together. Both sets of eyes fell on the vacant chair in front of them.

* * *

Before the Captain returned upstairs to Lucas for the night, he decided to make that call to the SeaQuest and inform the crew of what had happened.

The video link was answered by Lieutenant Tim O'Neill who was Chief Communications Officer aboard the vessel.

"Captain!" Tim said with the sound of surprise in his voice. He had not expected to hear from the man for another day or so. He knew that Lucas and Bridger had been taking time off to recover over what had happened with the guy that had hurt Lucas.

"Lieutenant," Bridger said formerly in return. "Could you get the senior officer's together for me in the Ward Room, please?"

"Aye, Sir," came the reply. 

O'Neill dreaded what the Captain was about to say. The only time the Captain ordered his senior crew to the Ward Room was when something was wrong. He did not relay his concern to the others. He switched the link to the room as directed. He informed Commander Ford, Miguel Ortiz, Chief Security Officer Crocker, Ben Krieg and Katie Hitchcock that they were required for a meeting by the Captain in the Ward Room.

All involved made their way to the agreed destination and saw that Bridger was on the video link in front of them.

"What's up, Cap?" Ben Krieg asked for everyone. Commander Ford just rolled his eyes at the lack of respect in the Lieutenant's greeting. When will he ever decide to take his job seriously? Ford asked himself.

"Commander," Bridger acknowledged and then gave an informal greeting to everyone seated in the room. What he had to tell them wasn't going to be easy and making it into a formal meeting wouldn't help the matter.

"Everyone," Bridger began nervously, "I don't like having to tell you all this, but there has been an accident here today," he waited in silence but read the reaction on everyone's face before they said anything.

"Lucas...," and he tried to say the name as calmly as possible, but everyone immediately hitched in their breaths in a collective gasp "Was involved in a motorcycle accident today on the island."

Before anyone else had the chance to respond, Ben Krieg was jumping out of his seat and was yelling at the Captain through the screen, "What! What Happened? Is he alright? Where is he? Can I talk to him?"

Katie Hitchcock put a restraining hand on the shoulder of her ex-husband, "It's okay, Ben," she said soothingly.

"I'm sure the Captain will tell us everything." Ben looked doubtfully at her but back down in his seat.

Everyone on board knew about the relationship between the young Lieutenant and Lucas. It was almost as strong as the one between Lucas and the Captain. Everyone had a special place in their heart for Lucas. He was just a sweet innocent teenager.

Bridger tried to go easy on Ben. The Captain had not had a high opinion of him when they first met, especially from some of the stories that his son Robert had to tell him. Robert Bridger and Ben Krieg had gone through the academy at the same time.

But that opinion had changed quite a long time ago, and Ben's friendship to Lucas was more than welcomed after what had happened over the last three months.

"Lucas is sleeping at the moment, Ben," Bridger told him. 

"He got a nasty gash on his head and some deep grazes to his upper arm, but Kristin has patched him up fine. I'm sure he will be sore for a week or two, but after that he should be back to normal again. Kristin has given him some pain killers to help him sleep a little tonight".

"The main reason I was contacting you, apart from giving you the bad news about the accident, was that I wanted a few of you to come and look at the accident scene. I had a quick look at it today, but wasn't able to tell much. Something deep down tells me that this wasn't an accident at all."

"You mean you think that somebody deliberately tried to hurt Lucas?" Commander Ford now asked. He was a man born and bred in the military and had seen the best and worst men could do to a fellow human being, but the thought of somebody deliberately hurting a child, especially Lucas, made his blood boil.

"I don't know exactly," Bridger continued. 

"There are no skid marks to show that something was in Lucas's path to make him swerve like he did. Lucas isn't the best rider around, but something tells me that he didn't just fall off his own bike".

Ben Krieg asked the question that everyone was thinking but was too afraid to ask, "Do you think Lawrence might be involved, Captain?"

"I'd hate to say so directly Lieutenant," Bridger answered. "Wolenczak is still in jail, but there's nothing to suggest that he couldn't find somebody to do his dirty work for him. He has both the money and the contacts. I wouldn't put anything past Lucas's so called father".

"Commander Ford," Bridger addressed his second-in-charge, "I was hoping that the team would include you and Mr Ortiz there."

Both nodded their agreement to going to the island and checking out the scene. Commander Ford was confident in leaving Katie Hitchcock in command whilst he was away. She was a very experienced officer and very much a military officer like himself.

"Would you mind if I tagged along too Commander?" Krieg asked.

"I think that's a great idea, Ben," Bridger answered for Ford. "I'm sure Lucas would appreciate some company over the next few days whilst he is recovering."

"I'll check in with you at about 9.00 hours then Captain," Commander said and discontinued the video link. 

Everyone remained in the room for a moment and pondered what they had been told. All knew that they would make sure somebody paid for deliberately hurting their young friend if the evidence pointed in that direction. If Lawrence Wolenczak was involved, they would make damn sure that he paid for his crimes.

* * *

At precisely 9.00 as arranged Bridger answered the knock at the door which signalled the arrival of his selected crew.

Bridger opened the door and greeted the black Commander with a handshake and uninteresting _Good Morning_.

Ben Krieg barged his way through past the pair of them and looking around for any sign that his young friend was downstairs already.

Kristin could sense the tenseness in the young Lieutenant and told him that Lucas hadn't awoken this morning yet. It may be a little while before he did. There was no need to wake him any earlier until his body was ready. The more rest he got the better.

Bridger offered everyone a cup of morning brew and all sat down in the living room to talk about the plan of action in searching the accident site. Commander Ford and Ortiz said they would go after they finished their cuppa.

It almost two hours later before Lucas started to stir upstairs. He opened his eyes and looked around. He tried to remember the events of the day before. The last thing he remembered was riding back from the shop on the other side of the island.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and was immediately rewarded with great pain shooting down his shoulder. He looked at the area causing pain and noticed that it was heavily strapped. He put his hand to his head. At the moment he didn't know which hurt worst, his shoulder or his head.

Upon waiting a few more seconds, it was clearly evident that his head would win this contest by a landslide. The pain was intense and constant. He put his hand up towards the offender and felt that he had a heavy piece of gauze over his temple region. He had given out small grunts of pain as he surveyed the damage to himself. These involuntary gasps of pain had alerted the people downstairs to his wakefulness.

Bridger sat down beside the teenager and placed a hand on his uninjured shoulder, "So, how are we feeling today, kiddo?"

Lucas turned to Bridger to answer the question and screwed his face up at the pain that this caused. He opened his eyes once it subsided and looked at the Captain with eyes that imitated road maps.

"Uhg," was the only words that escaped his lips as another wave of headache went through his head. He put his hands to either side of his head, waiting for the imminent explosion he thought would come.

Kristin had bent down in front of the teenager and asked him if he wanted something for the headache. He just nodded his agreement and regretted the movement again. He face contorted and showed the discomfort he was experiencing.

He vision and focus seemed to clear a little after a few more minutes and he felt well enough to go downstairs. Kristin was not entirely happy about the idea, but decided that the boy was okay enough to venture into the living room for a short while.

Lucas made his way towards the staircase. Thankfully Bridger had been holding onto one arm as he guided him down the steps. Lucas didn't think he could have made it alone. The stairs seemed to move on him each time he tried to take a step and he had to correct his balance for continuing.

Once downstairs safely, Lucas was guided to a comfortable armchair in the living room.

Ben Krieg had waited there whilst the others went up to Lucas. As soon as the teenager was seated in the chair, Krieg went about asking him a million questions. 

"Are you alright? What happened? Is there anything you need? What can I do? Are you alright again?"

Lucas just answered the best way he knew how, by looking straight at his friend and giving him in no uncertain terms with a _'Don't mess with me at the momentBen'_ look.

"Let Lucas get his bearings a little first this morning Krieg before you start the interrogation," said Ortiz who was watching the whole episode from the other chair in the room. 

He could see that Lucas was less than fully awake. He could see the etching of pain that came over his young friend's face at various intervals. He noted the heavy bandaging on Lucas's shoulder and the stitches in his head. The teenager looked less like their young genius at the moment.

Lucas just gave wane smile towards the Cuban to thank him for his intervention before Ben picked him to pieces about the accident.

Bridger was almost as impatient as the Lieutenant to find out what had happened yesterday. He too held back a little whilst gauging the young man's demeanour.

Kristin had brought a small plate of breakfast to Lucas and placed it in front of him. Lucas had said his thanks but doubted he would eat much of it, even being a small helping. A glass of juice had been put beside him on the coffee table and he was happy just to sip at that for the moment.

He could feel four sets of eyes on him. He could sense that they wanted to know what he remembered. What had happened before the accident? He doubted that he could have delayed the inevitable much longer.

He looked up at them and tried to give them his best innocent smile, "I feel a little better guys thanks," he told them. His voice was still a little thick from the effects of the pain killer and sedatives. It even sounded a little on the husky side.

"Do you think you could tell us what you remember know, kiddo?" Bridger asked softly.

"I don't remember much at all actually," Lucas said truthfully. 

"All I remember seeing was this car following me and then that tree just before I head butted it."

"_WHAT CAR_?" they all cried out in unison. Lucas just about jumped over the chair at the question everybody yelled at him.

Bridger put his hand on the boy's knee, "Sorry about that Lucas. I guess we are all just a little concerned."

The teenager relaxed slightly and tried to answer their question by going back a few more steps. 

"I vaguely remember buying a coke at that little shop on the other side of the island. I remember riding back along that dirt track towards the house here, when suddenly I could see a car in my rear view mirror. At first it seemed to be some distance back, but then when I looked back again it was right on my tail. I felt it nudge the back wheel of my bike."

All in the room gasp collectively as the truth about what really happened came out. Somebody had tried to hurt Lucas. The only question now what _'who'_?

"The car hit my back wheel for a second time and I couldn't control the bike," Lucas finished off. 

"The next thing I know is that I wake up here this morning with a headache to rival Sylvester Stallone after Rocky IV."

"You didn't recognize the driver at all, Lucas?" Bridger asked.

"No sorry Captain, the windscreen was kind of dark, maybe tinted slightly," Lucas answered.

"Let's talk about something else for now shall we?" Kristen suggested. Lucas was giving all the correct signals about wanting to avoid the current conversation as much as possible.

Lucas gave the doctor a look that said _'Thanks_.'

* * *

Jonathan Ford and Miguel Ortiz decided now was a good enough time to leave for the accident. At least now they actually had something more substantial to go on.

Ben didn't attempt to go with them. He just kept Lucas company. He found the remote control and turned the television on and started searching for a watchable channel. Much to Bridger and Kristin's disgust he finally settled on a foreign channel with subtitling at the bottom of the screen.

Lucas excused himself and took himself upstairs briefly to get a few pillows from his room. His shoulder was beginning to bug him more and more and if he was going to spend the afternoon watching mindless TV, then he wanted to be a little more comfortable.

Kristin had offered to go and get the pillows for him, but Lucas was determined to at least do a few things for himself. He had some injuries yes, but that didn't mean he had to be waited on hand and foot. He had enough of that over the past few months.

He entered his room and grabbed the two pillows from his bed. On his way out, he was distracted by the remnants of his riding jacket hanging over the back of the chair where the Captain had left it.

He put the pillows down and looked at the torn jacket with displeasure. He would have to buy another one if he ever wanted to go riding again. Not that Bridger would let him going riding anytime soon he reminded himself.

"Might as well throw it out now," he told himself. He started digging around in the few small pockets of the denim jacket to make sure he hadn't left anything important in it.

When he reached into one of the side pockets, his hand came upon a small slip of paper that was inside. His heart already started to pump a little harder. He remembered back to the other day when he had received a small slip of paper by an anonymous author. As it had turned out the author wasn't so unknown after all.

He gingerly took the piece of paper out and unfolded it out. His fears had been right. As he began to scan the words written on it, they began echoing in his mind.

**_'Found you ... you can run but you can't hide ... S'_**

The teenager found his breath was coming too fast. He had let go of the jacket and now groped at his chest to stop the full scale panic attack that threatened to engulf him.

He could barely believe it. 

If this note was in his pocket, it meant that Sanderson had been close enough to touch him after the accident. There was no doubt now as to who had caused the accident. His friends had suggested that his father Lawrence was involved when they were talking downstairs. But Lucas now knew that they were talking about a whole new type of enemy.

His skin broke out in goose flesh from the mere thought of him being within Sanderson's grasp again. He had to come up with a plan of escape. He had to find somewhere safe to hide.

He thoughts were immediately brought back to reality when he heard Ben yell up to him if he got lost or something. He knew he had to compose himself enough to return downstairs without giving his fear away.

He wiped the sweat away from his brow. He calmed his nerves as best he could. At least he wasn't shaking he thought. That was a blessing. He reached back for the pillows on the bed and strolled out the bedroom putting on his best pretend face.

Bridger had smiled at the teenager as he re-emerged from the bedroom. Something in Lucas's eyes told him that all was not right with the young man. He was about to say something about his suspicions when Lucas told Ben to find a better channel.

"There's not much on today, Lucas," Ben told his friend. 

Krieg had failed to notice the paleness of Lucas's face since his journey upstairs and Lucas was grateful for small mercies.

* * *

Half an hour later, due the tiredness his body felt and the comfort he felt fully stretched out on the couch with a pillow under his head, Lucas fell back asleep. It was now mid afternoon. Ben, Kristin and Bridger kept things quiet as possible in order for Lucas to stay asleep.

Ortiz and Ford had come through the back door a little while later ready to give their view of the scene. Kristin and Bridger both shushed them and pointed to Lucas sleeping on the couch.

Ben joined everyone else in the kitchen so they could talk a little more without disturbing the teenager. He seemed to be sleeping soundly enough. Little did they know that Lucas's dreams were being invaded by enemies from long ago.

"So, Jonathan," Bridger asked his second in command "What did you find out there today?"

"Not much, Captain," Ford said sadly. He didn't want to dash anybody hopes of finding out who did this, but the evidence was hard to come by. 

"We found some tire tracks from a vehicle which seem to indicate that somebody was indeed tailing Lucas's motorcycle as he travelled down the dirt road. After that though, is pretty much up to assumption. There is nothing to identify the driver or even the make of the car that was involved."

"That's for your help anyway, Commander," Bridger said in defeat. They were no closer than yesterday to identifying Lucas's assailant. Although Lawrence Wolenczak was still at the head of everyone's suspect list.

"You know," Ben started, "Lucas over there still seems too tense for my liking."

"How bout we, and he pointed to himself and Ortiz take him out tomorrow for a while.? There won't be another chance after tomorrow for three months, and I dread to think what sort of grizzly bear he will turn out to be if cooped up for that length of time in his current state of mind"

"I think that it a great idea, Ben," Bridger agreed. 

"Maybe he can buy a new jacket to replace the one upstairs. You can ask if when he wakes up if you like. As for his state of mind, after what had happened over the last few months, I think he is entitled to feel a little uneasy and scared."

"We just have to try and be there for him when he decides he is ready to face what happened. You know he has barely said a word to anyone about what happened to him. Bottling it all up for too long will only cause him greater anxiety."

Lucas had woken up just long enough to hear the last three or four sentences of Bridger's speech. 

_How little you really know_ _Captain_, he thought to himself. 

The real enemy is still out there, he is still out there...

* * *

The next meeting that was about to occur between Lucas and Sanderson was put together by pure chance. It happened something like this ...

"Captain," Lucas said in exasperation, "I really don't want to go to the mainland today."

"It will do you good for you to get out for a while, Lucas," Bridger replied. He knew that the boiy didn't want to go, but he knew that being cooped up on the island wasn't helping the situation either.

Bridger was still worried about the physical injuries Lucas was still carrying from the accident a couple of days ago. He had been forced into this position a little by Kristin and the other crew members.

If he could just think of a good reason _'Why Not'_ then he would take the suggestion back in a heart beat. He knew they were right in trying to get Lucas to feel a little more confident out in public, but it still didn't make him feel any better.

Lucas was more worried about what was to come. A public gathering was the last place he wanted to be. But maybe with Ortiz and Ben there to protect him, he would feel a little safer. He doubted it.

Lucas was trying to put the accident out of his mind. He was trying to squash any fears that were beginning to manifest themselves within him. He was truly scared inside. He had every right to be, but he had to hide it from his family and fellow crew members. He did not want them getting involved again and being hurt because of him. He couldn't live with that on his conscience.

"Come on Lucas, your going and that's final," Ben Krieg said trying to sound stern.

"You're going even if we have to drag you kicking and screaming."

Truth was that Ben was worried about his young friend as much as anybody else, but his solution to any problem was to inject a little humour into the situation before everyone went bonkers.

Miguel Ortiz was trying to come up with a comment that would encourage the teenager to accompany them to the mainland. 

"Maybe you could get some new computer parts before we go back onboard tomorrow Lucas. It will be another three months before you get a chance!"

Lucas thought about the idea and just shrugged his shoulders in defeat. He couldn't fight them all off. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. 

He would make it back safe okay and tomorrow he would be back on board the SeaQuest and safe from any attempts by Sanderson. 

_MAYBE..._.

* * *

For the next half an hour Kristin checked Lucas wounds and made sure that they were bandaged enough to avoid further injury. She gave Lucas two aspirin that would see him through the aches for the rest of the morning. He would be back by lunch time for the next dose.

The rest of the time was spent by Bridger and Kristen explaining the _DO's_ and _DON'TS_ of the planned trip.

**'_Do look out for Lucas, Ben and Miguel.'  
_**

**_'Don't wander off alone, Lucas.'_**

**_'Do stop and return home if Lucas gets too tired.' _**

_**'Don't go chasing girls at the mall.' **_

Directed at mainly at Ben and Miguel:

_'**Do return back to the island on time.'**_

**_'Don't come back without Lucas - or don't come back at all.'_**

Miguel looked and Ben who looked and Lucas and all three rolled their eyes in unison feeling like three year olds going on their first excursion.

Ben decided to inject a little of that abject humour to the situation

**'_Don't go running in front of a truck.'  
_**

**_'Do hold hands crossing the road.'_**

**_'Don't go trusting old ladies with knitting baskets.'_**

**_'Do make sure that you are wearing clean underwear in cast of an emergency so that you can be identified by the name written on the label.' _**

Lucas and Miguel were now laughing good naturedly at Krieg's remarks. Ben always seemed to know what to say.

Bridger and Kristin just gave them all a warning look but had to hide smirks of their own at the statements. They did sound like parents letting their teenager son out on his first date. Even Commander Ford had a slight grin on his face.

* * *

By mid morning the trio of Miguel, Ben and Lucas were on the boat on their way to the mainland. All seemed relaxed. 

Lucas was standing at the rear of the boat letting the salt and the wind whistle through his blond hair.

After a short ferry ride, they hailed down a cab and headed to the largest shopping mall they could find. All had a few dollars in their pockets. Lucas had quite a few more than the other two. He intended to replace that torn jacket and buy himself some of that equipment that Miguel had hinted at.

As they walked into the busy shopping centre they were immediately struck by the noise that was inside that they could not hear outside. If was as if everyone had chosen this one particular day to attend the shopping mall. The crowd was very big. The escalators were packed. They were packed into the lifts by the dozen.

Lucas was a little apprehensive upon entering and almost bailed out of the whole idea. He didn't like crowds at the best of times and today was not an exception if not worse.

Ben had seen the nervousness in the reluctant teenager and kept propelling him through the automatic doors to the centre. There would be no backing out once inside. It would take them at least an hour to get back out again.

On the other side of the shopping centre another man was entering the same centre. He had a wig made up of a shock of red had and a panama hat. He was wearing a long trench coat and dark glasses.

The first half an hour went smoothly enough. The trio had made their way past the hordes of people with shopping bags. They had been pushed and pulled in all directions. They had even been bumped and bruised a number of times by the over zealous crowd.

Lucas had to inwardly hold back a number of muffled squeaks of pain as people had accidentally brushed past his injured shoulder. 

On the third occasion, he had stopped all together and was now standing out on the edge of the crowd. He was rubbing at his bandages. His shoulder was really beginning to ache. The aspirins had worked at first but were now beginning to wear off and the bumps from others had not helped the situation.

Lucas had just paused for a brief period of time, but now noticed that Miguel and Ben were nowhere in sight. They had been swallowed up by the crowd in front of him.

"Just great," Lucas muttered to himself. He was imagining the ear bashing he was going to be on the end of when his crew mates eventually found him.

He spotted a shop that was advertising computer equipment and wondered if this was the same one Ortiz had spoken about.

Paul Sanderson had made his way through the crowd and was not looking anywhere in particular until his vision settled upon a blond head not to far away. He couldn't possibly be this lucky could he. A chance meeting in a venue on mutual ground to them both. He grinned to himself. He knew that the boy wouldn't be able to recognized him immediately, but this added to his devious plan for later.

Lucas had made his way over to the store window and peered at the various displays. His eyes were surveying all the new neat equipment he could spot. 

He made a mental note of them all and would write them done later for a future wish list. For now he would need to settle for something small and compact in order to be able to take it back on the boat tomorrow.

Something, and he couldn't explain what made Lucas begin to feel increasingly uneasy. 

He stood up and looked about nervously. The hairs on the back of his neck were starting to stand on end. His fears were beginning to re-emerge but he couldn't put a meaning to it. He couldn't see the cause for the moment.

Sanderson could see the teenager looking about apparently looking for something or someone. He grinned to himself because he was thrilled that his mere presence could cause such a reaction in this young man. 

The man knew it was him that caused it. He didn't intend to make his identity public just yet. He still had more preparations to make.

This would have been an ideal place to snatch the unprotected teenager now. Sanderson could not see anyone else with Lucas. He appeared to be alone. Unfortunately, the opportunity would need to arise again, but at a time of his choosing.

* * *

Lucas was still looking around at the crowd. He started to look at each individual face as the crowd passed by. A couple of girls had given him a flirty wink, one old lady had given him an angry stare in return, he still had to locate the cause for his fear. His gaze finally settled upon a middle aged man that stood some twenty-five metres away from him. There was nothing too unusual about the man to make him a suspect.

The red hair certainly stood out. The man had notice the teenager's investigating stare and simply gave a false smile in return. The man had briefly removed his glasses in order to see in the artificial lighting of the shopping centre. 

Lucas could see the eyes, his own gaze seemed drawn to them in particular. His brain was telling him that something was terribly wrong but he couldn't place a finger on the reason. His brain made a mental note of those eyes and then made the boy turn away from the piercing site.

Ben and Miguel had been frantically searching for the missing teenager whilst all of this staring was going on. They had noticed Lucas missing a short time ago and were dreading returning to Kristin or Bridger to tell them that the teenager had indeed gotten lost in one of the largest shopping centres in the city. They would search every nook and cranny in this huge shopping centre first.

Ben had almost shouted out aloud in relief as he spotted the familiar blond head in the crowd. He had walked up behind the teenager and touched him on the left uninjured shoulder.

Lucas now spun around and was about to let off a very loud yell at the touch on his shoulder. He had not heard anyone approach him from behind due to the dull continual roar of the crowd. His breathing was coming in sharp pants and he looked at though he was scared half to death.

"Ben! Don't you ever do that again," Lucas managed to get out through strangled gasps.

"Sorry, Lucas," Ben apologized sheepishly. He noticed how nervous the teenager seemed to be from his silent approach. He was truly sorry for scaring the teenager so badly. He had only been worried about him when they lost him in the crowd. He didn't want anything happening to his best friend.

Lucas just waved a hand at him to signal he was okay. He was still trying to get his breath back under control. His gaze again wandered back to where the man he had been staring at intently, but the spot was now occupied by a large woman with a pram and three little children. She didn't take kindly to the stare from the young man and gave a look right back to him that was none too pleasant.

Miguel and Ben had seen him staring at the woman and wondered why Lucas found her so interesting. 

Lucas just blushed bright red and tight to divert his gaze to other places.

Lucas couldn't understand why he had felt so uneasy just a few minutes ago. He was looking into the crowd to see where the man with the red hair had disappeared to.

_Something was still not right._

He down played his fears to Ben and Miguel by just saying that his shoulder was too sore and his headache had returned. Both were not exactly a lie. His shoulder was protesting at the treatment it had received earlier and his head had a dull ache at the back of it. 

Lucas decided to just play the _'little injured boy'_ role for the rest of the morning. Hopefully it would only seek to get Ben and Ortiz to go back home where he felt secure. Tomorrow he would be back aboard the boat and worry free for a time.

Ben and Miguel had started to worry slightly at Lucas mentioning his shoulder and headache and had no trouble at all in shortening their trip. They remembered the words of Kristin from that morning and decided to err on the side of caution and take the teenager home.

From behind a advertising placard on the other side of a store, the man in the red hair and panama hat watched to trio walk back out of the same entrance way. Both men seemed to be protecting the boy for the time being. Ben had looked over his shoulder once but failed to see the man watching them.

* * *

The return trip was clouded by silence and distant thoughts. Lucas stood in a similar place at the rear of the vessel as he had earlier that morning. But now his thoughts were troubled and dark. He couldn't get the feeling of dread from his mind.

Ben and Miguel sensed that the teenager's mood had darkened somewhat over the last couple of hours. Maybe it was due to the pain Lucas said he was having from his injuries and his headache, maybe not.

Ben walked up to stand beside the young man and tried to pry into Lucas's mind and find out what he was thinking about. This time he made his approach not so silent so as not to frighten the teenager as before.

Lucas acknowledged his friend's approach with a curt nod and then returned to his distance gaze out over the horizon.

"Something up, Lucas?" Ben asked honestly. He decided that the frontal attack was the best in this situation.

"No Ben, not really," he lied.

"Just thinking about going back to SeaQuest tomorrow. I am really looking forward to going back. You don't know how really glad I am to be going back Ben. I need to get back to the boat and feel safe again for a while."

"Feeling a little homesick are we?" Ben enquired.

"Yes and No," came the candid reply. 

"Yes because SeaQuest is the only home I have ever really known. No because I really enjoy living with the Kristin and the Captain as my new Dad on the island."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Ben said. 

"I have this love and hate relationship towards the SeaQuest too if you didn't already know."

Lucas just looked questioningly at his friend. Did Ben really understand how he felt about the boat and his crew family?

"You see, Lucas," Ben began, "I love the SeaQuest for the great perks my position offers. And No, I hate the thought of having to go back to work. Besides when I go back I am back under the Command of my lovely ex-wife Katie."

Lucas gave a small smile to Ben's self preservative attitude. It was true that Ben often talked about his grudges towards his ex-wife. Truth be known as it was to Lucas, that the Lieutenant was still madly in love with Katie Hitchcock. Always had been and always would be.

Miguel had heard the last part of the conversation and now added, "Oh come on Ben, you never do any real work on board anyway."

"I'll have you know that _Morale Officer_ is a very important position, Mr Blips and Radar Reader," Ben said in mock disgust. 

"I take young officers like Lucas here and make them feel welcomed and loved aboard that vast tin hull."

"You make them feel at home Ben by offering various sources of contraband and other illegal activities," Ortiz retorted back. "It's a wonder we still have nice, clean uncorrupted crew members like Lucas."

Lucas had tried to laugh a little at the funny rebuttal between the two of his friends but his mind kept wandering. He just wanted to get back to the island and relax a little before back on duty tomorrow. 

He made a mental note to make sure Commander Ford had enough chores organised for him when they got back to the SeaQuest. If he had enough to keep him busy, maybe the demons and thoughts of Sanderson could be kept at bay.

* * *

When they reached the jetty on the island Lucas was the first one to disembark. 

The teenager headed towards the UEO transport waiting parked a short distance away and walked straight past Commander Ford and his Captain Bridger and proceeded to take a seat in the back of the vehicle without so much as offering a _'hello'_ to anyone. He barely mumbled something about his shoulder aching too much before sitting in his seat in silence on the journey back to the house.

Bridger and Jonathan Ford just raised an eyebrow each at Ben Krieg and Ortiz as they shortly followed their young friend. Both of them gave a look that said, _'We will talk later_.'

Bridger was sure that something had happened on their little shopping trip, but it looked as if Lucas was very reluctant to talk about it. He could see the dark mood threatening to engulf the teenager. 

He had thought that the trip to the mainland might cheer Lucas up before heading back to the boat tomorrow. He could see that he had been very wrong. It looked as though the situation had been made worse.

Lucas just stared out the window using the same vacant stare he had used on the ferry trip back.

Bridger had wanted badly to talk to the teenager and find out what was troubling him, but left it until a later time. Lucas had told him that his shoulder had been aching some and he had a rotten headache. 

All he wanted to do was get home and take a pain killer and lay down for awhile. What he wanted to do was dive head long into the deep void of sleep that would be dreamless and memory free.

As soon as the vehicle pulled up in front of the house, Lucas got out and walked towards the front door of the house. 

Kristin greeted them all at the door and was about to ask how the shopping excursion had been when she saw that Lucas was not in a talking mood.

She could see that he was holding his head slightly and grimacing at the dull ache in his shoulder. She put her doctor hat on and gave him the pain killer he had been craving earlier. She escorted him upstairs and helped him get comfortable on his bed. Lucas closed his eyes and just lay there.

Kristin knew that he wasn't asleep, but he soon would be with the pain killer at work. She decided to leave him be and get the rest he requested.

* * *

"What happened, Lieutenant?" Kristin asked firmly as she eyed Ben. She had just descended the stairs from Lucas's bedroom and headed straight towards the living room where the rest of the crew were seated.

Ben felt the piercing gaze of his fellow crew members and thought that somehow he was going to get the blame for Lucas's sombre mood.

"I'm not sure what happened, Captain, really!" Ben said with a genuine tone. 

"We went to the shopping mall just as we said we would. The place was packed, but that was nothing too unusual. Lucas was a bit apprehensive about going inside, but we managed to persuade him to go inside."

"You managed to persuade him?" Bridger asked warily.

"Okay, maybe we were pushing him through the doors more than persuading him," Ben admitted. 

"But once we were inside he seemed just fine. For a while we just wandered around looking at all of the stores. Lucas seemed to be getting bumped accidentally by people in the crowd and he said his shoulder was beginning to bother him."

"Go on," Kristin told the Lieutenant, not taking her locking gaze off his explanation. Miguel was watching and listening to the story Ben was giving and was just glad that it wasn't him in front of the execution squad.

Ben started the next line with a little bit of nervousness, "At some point ... we got separated," it was almost a whisper and he thought he would have to repeat it a little louder. To his surprise and dread Kristin and Bridger had heard every uttered word of that sentence.

"You got separated," they both shouted at the Lieutenant. 

They were both giving him the evil eye and threatening him with various forms of punishment if he didn't start explaining that statement a little more satisfactorily.

"Like I said, we got separated," Ben continued, "When we finally found him, I seemed to be out of it." 

Kristin and Bridger had relaxed slightly as the _found_ part but know were looking at him with curiosity written all over their faces.

"What do you mean out of it?" Bridger asked Krieg.

"Well he seemed to be staring at somebody in the crowd. When I touched him on the shoulder from behind, I thought he was going to flip out right there and then he went so pale. He was plain scared. I was really sorry for frightening him like that, but the more I think about it, maybe it was something else that he was afraid of."

"Who did you see in the crowd?" Kristin asked with a degree of nervousness.

"All we saw was some fat lady with a bunch of screaming kids," Ben replied.

"Honest Captain. She didn't look too impressed about being stared at either." Ben was now looking at Miguel to back up his story.

"He's right Captain, Lucas looked as though he had seen a ghost. But all we seen was that lady and her kids."

"On the trip back on the ferry," Ben added, "I tried to ask him if anything was bothering him, but he just talked about looking forward to going back aboard SeaQuest tomorrow." 

Ben also told them the line about enjoying living with them on the island. He hoped that a happy statement might quell their worries a little.

"Maybe he was just hurting a little too much," Kristin commented trying to rationalise the explanation in her own mind. It was the only plausible one at the moment. They doubted that even when Lucas was awake he would openly share his feelings with them.

* * *

The next morning saw Lucas wake up with a whole new outlook on the day. 

He was almost back to the old Lucas Wolenczak that everyone was so fond of. The others suspected that part of him at least was trying to hide what had happened yesterday. And although this was partly true, he was genuinely excited and happy to be finally going back to the SeaQuest.

The afternoon found the atmosphere very hectic on board the vessel. Commander Ford and Bridger were overseeing the new crew members to their allotted cabins and work stations. 

Chief Crocker and Katie Hitchcock were busy ticking the endless load of supplies of a check list. 

Ben Krieg was busy checking the non- essential items on his own tick list. Ortiz and Tim O'Neill were working together testing out the new navigation and communications systems that had been installed on the Bridge.

Lucas found that he mostly had the entire afternoon to himself. He had taken the first few hours and tried to set up his new equipment in his own small cabin. He had thought about helping out the other Senior Officers, but soon discovered that he seemed more of a hindrance than a assistant to any of them.

He had even tried to help out the Captain, but only got short grunts of reply or acknowledgment that he was even in the same room. He wasn't totally upset by the lack of attention he was receiving. He knew that Bridger was busy. Lucas took himself back to his cabin and tried to amuse himself once again with his vast array of computer components.

Lucas had spent some time trying to get into a few low level classified files. At some point be became bored again. You could only do this a few times before it was like old hat. He needed some new challenges.

Wolfman had not sent anything new to him in weeks. He still felt exhilaration at the puzzles or games that his friend often sent him over the internex. Wolfman was the one person that Lucas could connect with on the same intellectual level. The two of them had been friends for a few years now.

Wolfman was into computers and hacking as much as his friend Frankie, or Frankenstein as he was sometimes referred to. He would talk to his friend online later that night and check up on the latest gossip on the web.

Lucas was about to call it a day. He was starting to feel a little cramped up from sitting in the same position for the last hour. He was just about to head out to the moon pool and find Darwin when he noticed a small envelope in the right hand corner of his computer screen.

He clicked on the symbol thinking that Wolfman had indeed come through for him again. He was terribly mistaken.

At first he didn't recognize the sender's e-mail address. There was no subject heading to indicate what the message was about. He ran his normal anti-virus software over the message before opening it. 

Costly viruses from the past had taught him to make sure he scanned every incoming message. Anonymous ones only heightened his awareness to the dangers of viruses from unknown sources.

Once the anti-virus completed it's assigned task, he clicked on the attached message and was about to read the contents. At first his vision just scanned over the contents of the mail. It wasn't until he noted the mark at the bottom of the page that he understood who the author was. 

The letter at the bottom of the page was the unmistakable symbol that had appeared on the last two handwritten messages he had found back at the island. The S now stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the message.

He made himself scroll back up to the top of the letter and read the entire contents of the letter from Sanderson. This message was more than the couple of words the other two had been.

**_'Saw you yesterday. I know you saw me. Remember me now?_**

**_'I amd watching you, waiting for the right moment. You won't get away so easily this time.'_**

'**_If you think your friends will protect you again you will be sadly mistaken. Being at the bottom of the ocean in the biggest Naval vessel only makes them a sitting target.'_**

**_'Agree to come quietly and unaccompanied, then I might spare your friends any harm.'_**

**_' You on the other hand ... I cannot make the same guarantee.' _**

_**'I will make contact again real soon ...' S**_

Lucas now jumped back from the screen with fear written all over his face. He almost felt as if Sanderson could reach out and touch him from within the message.

He saw the words. He could sense the threatening overtures. The teenager took note of the warnings against hurting the people he loved and cared about.

The boy's mind now kicked into gear and he now remembered with dread the eyes that had held his attention back at the shopping centre yesterday. 

_The eyes_ ... yes, why had he been so blind. The wig and panama hat had served their purpose to throw his guard down at first. 

Why hadn't he seen it before? Lucas mentally kicked himself for the grave error in judgment.

Now as he saw those eyes again, he couldn't believe that he had been staring right at the very man who caused him so much pain and suffering. The eyes had been burning black pools of hatred. Hatred meant entirely for him. Meant to hurt and possibly kill him this time.

The teenager's breath was beginning to trouble him again as he lost it to fear. His hands were trembling and was thankful that he was alone in his cabin. He subconsciously started to rub at the scar on his thigh. The scar that _Sanderson_ had caused. The scar was the only visible reminder of their last encounter.

He knew that Sanderson was right. 

If he stayed aboard the SeaQuest, then he would still be found. The biggest vessel in the world might have sounded safe enough at first, but it was unable to become invisible or hide under a rock on the sea bed. If he stayed on board, he would be putting the lives of the people he loved most at risk. 

Lucas didn't want that. He had similar thoughts back on the island and this new message and these fresh threats from Sanderson only seemed to strength his words to himself.

He would need to get away. Get away and keep those he loved safe from his enemy. He didn't know where he would go. At the moment his only thoughts were on Sanderson and how to escape the SeaQuest before anybody could stop him.

He had to get away...

Lucas spend the next hours trying to look normal aboard the board, but actually trying to work out what to do.

He walked about with his hands in his pockets trying to hide his shaking hands. He had deleted the suspect e-mail before he left his cabin. At least it wouldn't be discovered by anybody else in the crew.

He walked onto the bridge where his fellow crew members were. Normally he liked being here. His attention was nearly always drawn by the array of flashing lights and the blips from the radar and the information generated by the W.S.K.R.S. system. 

Today he just looked about the helm nervously. He couldn't keep his attention on any one thing today.

He had walked over towards the Captain without realising it. Bridger seemed to recognize the distant look on the teenager. 

"Thought you'd be too busy trying to find out what new systems you can hack into," Bridger said.

"Nah, just felt like getting out of my cabin for a while," Lucas replied._'Get out my cabin and away from the dangers that lurk within_' he added silently.

Bridger had a questioning look on his face, it was unusual for the teenager to be so distracted. 

If was as if something else was on his mind. From experience Bridger doubted that Lucas would share his feelings with him.

Lucas tried to come up with an excuse for leaving. In the end he just left without saying a word to anyone. Even the senior crew members seemed to notice the lack of spunk in the teenager today. Something was definitely not right in Lucas land.

* * *

Bridger though about following him, but decided against it. He would check up on the teenager after his shift. Lucas would just think he was overprotective as usual. 

He didn't want to start this tour off on the wrong foot. There was still three months together. If things got into an argument on the first day between them, it would be a very long three months.

Lucas made his way to the mess hall. He decided instead of lurking around the ship trying to avoid everyone, he really needed to start getting prepared to leave. 

He had made the decision back in his cabin to escape silently away in the Stinger. It was the fastest way and it could only take one passenger. If he asked for a shuttle craft, everyone would immediately be suspicious about what was going on.

He didn't know where he was going. He just knew that he had to get away from the SeaQuest. He couldn't put his friends and family at risk. He would escape in the Stinger and decide from there where to go. 

The ocean was a big place, maybe Sanderson would lose track of him and he could start a new life somewhere on his own. He did not relish the idea of starting a new life or being on his own at all. But if it would protect the ones he loved the most, then he would do it no matter what the cost.

By late that afternoon, unbeknown to the rest of the crew, Lucas had gathered his meagre rations and supplies. The one disadvantage to the Stinger only being built for one person was that it lacked the usual luggage space needed. He packed two days food and enough drinking water to last him until he reached dry land somewhere. 

He packed one change of clothes and a small compass for navigation. The Stinger was equipped with its own navigation instruments, but once he was on dry land, he would be on his own. He would have to find his own way about.

By the time he was satisfied that the Stinger was ready, his shoulder was starting to protest again. It ached and told him that he needed to rest a little before taking on his big journey.

He went to see Kristin about getting some more aspirin. She gladly gave him two as he carefully watched where she kept her medical supplies. Maybe he could get an extra couple of tablets to take with him in the Stinger later. It couldn't hurt to have some.

Bridger had finished his shift and was about to go an find Lucas like he intended. He thought he would return to his cabin first and change into something a bit more casual first.

When he reached the door of his cabin, he noted that the door wasn't locked like he had left it that morning. He was puzzled and wondered for a moment how the door was unlocked.

When he stepped inside he immediately saw the culprit. His heart began to weigh heavy and he truly knew that something was wrong with his teenage son.

Lucas was stretched out sound asleep on his bunk. Bridger knew it wasn't usual for Lucas to seek out his father's cabin unless he was worried about something or sick. 

Bridger walked over to the bed very quietly and put a probing hand on the teenager's forehead to feel for a phantom fever to indicate that he was indeed sick. There was no heat to feel.

The teenager didn't stir at the Captain's gentle touch and continued to give the impression of being deeply asleep. Bridger heard a knock at is door and went to open it before it woke Lucas.

Kristin had been standing on the other side of the door when Bridger opened it. 

"I just wanted to see if he was alright, Nathan," she said. 

"He stopped by my office a little while ago still complaining about his shoulder. I gave him some aspirin, but he wasn't in his cabin just now when I went to check on him. I thought I'd try the next logical place."

"Is his shoulder still bothering him that much?" Bridger asked. He thought that Lucas had said his shoulder had been healing. 

Bridger remembered the conversation on the island yesterday with Krieg and Ortiz about Lucas telling them at the mall that his shoulder was still a little tender.

"It seems to be taking longer than I expected it to heal," she answered honestly. She walked over to the sleeping teenager and gave him a once over of her own. She was satisfied that he seemed to be sleeping okay.

"I hate to ask you this, but it doesn't seem like he is going to wake for a little while yet," Kristin began "You don't mind losing your bed for a while, do you?".

"Not at all, I am not going to move him until he wakes if that's what you are asking," Nathan replied. 

"If he wants to stay the night, that's okay with me".

"I know he means so much to you," Kristin said. 

She could see both the worry of a friend and the love of a father emanating from the Captain with every breath he took. She felt as equally protective but with Nathan, the relationship between Nathan and Lucas was beginning to become something so special.

"More than you know," Bridger said as his gaze drifted back to is bunk.

"Come and join me for some dinner, Captain?" Kristen said with a twinkle in her eye.

"You bet little lady," Bridger said and put an arm around her shoulder as they left Lucas in peace.

* * *

When Lucas awoke from his deep sleep, he looked over at the clock and noted the time said 8.55pm. 

"Damn!" he said to himself. He had wanted to wake earlier than this to make his escape in the Stinger. He wanted to get away while most people were eating dinner.

He got up and hurriedly put back on his shoes he had discarded at the base of the Captain's bunk. He wondered if Bridger had found him asleep in his bunk. Given the time of day, he had to assume so.

The teenager quickly wiped the thought from his mind, he had more immediate worries at the moment.

He got out a piece of paper and pen from the top drawer of the Captain's desk and began to write something on the blank sheet.

**_I am writing this to tell you Goodbye.  
_**

**_I don't know where I am going so don't try and follow me. _**

**_Hopefully I will make contact once I get set up a little in my new home.  
_**

**_Please don't worry. _**

**_I am not leaving SeaQuest because I don't want to be here. There are a few things happening in my life right now that I need to work out on my own._**

**_Tell Ben and the rest of the crew that I will be alright and I will miss them terribly.  
_**

**_I couldn't say the words to you, just couldn't say them.  
_**

**_I love you and Kristin very much. _**

**_Please take care of Darwin for me. _**

**_ Please don't hate me because of this. This is something that I have to do._****_  
_**

**Lucas**

He reread the note. He made sure that he didn't put to much explanation into it. He didn't want to come right out and tell them that the reason he was leaving was Sanderson. 

The boy put the pen back into the drawer and left the note in the middle on the large desk for Bridger to see when he returned.

With that last task complete, Lucas now made his way down the vacant corridors towards the launch bays and the Stinger.

He had wanted to say goodbye to Darwin. But he knew if he told the dolphin he was leaving, then Darwin would go straight to the Captain and crew before he had a chance to get away.

No he had to get used to doing things on his own.

He positioned himself in the front of the console of the Stinger. He closed the hatch securely, looked briefly about the place he had come to know as home and reluctantly started the small craft ready for his journey into the unknown.

* * *

At about the same time as Lucas was kicking the Stinger's engine into gear, Bridger returned to his cabin with Kristin. Both were giggling slightly, but stopped once they reached the door for fearing that Lucas was still asleep inside.

Bridger felt good at the moment. Dinner with Kristin had been delightful, although a little crowded with the rest of the crew eyeing the two of them together. All they needed now was a brief night cap before retiring for the night.

Bridger opened the door and his eyes looked directly at the bunk expecting that Lucas would be still there. 

To his surprise and that of Kristin, the bunk was empty. The sheets had been remade. The pillows replaced neatly at the head of the bed. It was as if it had never been slept in that day. Bridger looked puzzled at Kristin.

Kristin Westphalen had seen the bunk was empty, but whilst Bridger was trying to work out why the teenager was missing, her eyes spotted a white piece of paper placed deliberately in the middle of the desk on the other side of the room. 

Something about that piece of paper made her heart miss a beat. She walked over to it and gingerly picked it up.

She didn't read the contents, she just noted that the heading read _'TO THE CAPTAIN'_ and she handed it to Nathan with dread written all over her face.

Bridger saw that Kristin was holding out a piece of paper to him. He had seen her walk over to the table and pick it up. His own fears were beginning to amass when he saw the look on Kristin's face and the heading that the doctor pointed out.

He read the note aloud to them both. He knew that Kristin wanted to hear what was contained in the note. He didn't need to keep secrets from her where Lucas was concerned.

When he got to the final sentence, he was trembling himself and finding it hard to hold onto the note itself. Kristin had tears of her own running down her face.

"What does it mean?" Bridger asked. He had read the contents. He heard the pain and the uncertainty in the words. He just didn't know why Lucas wrote it. 

What could be bothering him so much to make him want to leave his family and friends? They had failed to see all the signs over the last few days. He had been moody and withdrawn, but they thought that was due to the attempt on his life from the accident.

Kristin made the move before Bridger did. Now that it seemed Lucas intended to leave, she just hoped that they had found out before the teenager made his escape. She hit her Comm Link and got immediate access to the staff on the Bridge and Commander Jonathan Ford.

"Commander," she said without saying hello, "Seal all of the outer doors to the launch bays please, right this minute!"

"Excuse me doctor?" Commander Ford said a little confused at the tone in her voice.

"Lucas is attempting to run away, seal all of the outer doors to the launch bays, _NOW_!" Kristin yelled.

Commander Ford didn't know it what Kristin was saying was true or not, all he and the rest of the Bridge crew heard were three little words - _Lucas, Running Away._

"You heard the lady, Mr Ortiz," Commander Ford ordered, "Seal all outer doors now!"

Too Late. Lucas had heard the Comm Link just as the tail of the Stinger reached the ocean outside of the SeaQuest. 

He had a terrible pain in his heart. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and go back to his family, but he knew he couldn't. For their sake anyway.

* * *

During this brief interlude Bridger and Kristin had run from the Captain's cabin to the Bridge.

Nathan now pushed in front of Ortiz pushing the Comm Link button and yelling pleas at the teenager into it, "Lucas, come back, please!" he beseeched.

"Whatever it is we will work it out son. Please don't leave. Lucas, Lucas!"

A crackled reply came through from the Stinger, "Sorry Captain, I can't. I can't explain why for the time being, I just have to go. Please understand."

"Lucas?" Bridger yelled back in reply.

"I've got the Stinger on radar Captain," Tim O'Neill shouted through the conversation.

"He's travelling away fast. He is already some 20 nautical miles from the SeaQuest".

"Thank you Mr O'Neill," Bridger whispered. He was almost at wits end as to what to say in order that the teenager would have a change of heart and turn around.

Lucas was about to reply to that statement. Tears threatened to stream down his face, but he fought hard to keep control. For one brief minute, he was even willing to stop and listen to Bridger's desperate pleas.

Lucas's train of thought was interrupted by a different sounding crackle over the Comm Link. The static became very loud and Lucas almost put his hand over his ears at the noise level. 

"Captain?" Lucas said into the Comm Link. There was no response.

"What happened, Lieutenant?" Bridger shouted at Tim O'Neill.

"I don't know sir, we seem to have lost contact with the Stinger," O'Neill replied. Tim and Ortiz tried on their headsets to raise the Stinger and it's occupant.

"Is anybody out there?" Lucas now said into his own Comm Link. Again there was no response. 

"Just great, Wolenczak," he now said to himself in harsh self retribution. "All set to go out on your own big adventure and your radio dies two miles out of Gotham City."

The SeaQuest crew were still trying to get through to the Stinger. They could hear Lucas on the other side but he apparently could not hear them. Something was jamming the signal from the Stinger to the SeaQuest.

"Alpha Romeo Foxtrot," came a voice over Lucas's Comm Link 

The message coming through from the Stinger could be heard on the Bridge of the SeaQuest, but they were not able to reply to the unidentified person.

Lucas felt his blood run cold. He had only heard those three words but the voice was unmistakable. He knew who the unidentified person on the Comm Link was. His breathing started to change with the fear that was threatening to overtake him.

"No, you can't be here," Lucas said in an almost whisper. 

Everyone, including the mystery guest heard the voice and noted the fear entrenched in it.

"Oh, but I am, Lucas," the voice said and began to laugh over the radio. "The time has come."

Captain Bridger and the Bridger crew were listening with fears of their own to the voice talking to Lucas. They had not heard Sanderson's voice very often and didn't put two and two together immediately. 

It wasn't until they heard the next few sentences in the conversation that they realised with horror who the unidentified party was.

"I see your trying to leave the party a little too soon, Lucas," the stranger said. "Now it wouldn't be nice of you to ignore your old friend would it?"

"You are no friend of mine, Sanderson," Lucas shouted back. He was unaware that the SeaQuest crew could hear his entire conversation.

The SeaQuest crew collectively gasped as they heard the name Sanderson. They all had fresh memories of what that particular man had done to Lucas. 

It was only a few months ago that Lucas had been taken by force from a hotel and tortured and shot. They had also been told about the events of two years ago and the meeting that Lucas had with Sanderson and his friend Alison.

Bridger was shouting down through the Comm Link but no one else could hear his words. He was warning Sanderson to leave his son alone or there would be hell to pay. 

He couldn't let that madman get his hands on Lucas again. He just couldn't.

* * *

"Tell me Lucas, did you keep our little communications between each other to yourself?" Sanderson said. "I bet you never even told your friends about the message in the bottle the other day while you were on the island."

"What about the note left in your jacket after that most unfortunate accident? Yes, I know that they all think your father Lawrence was to blame, but we both know different don't we, Lucas ?"

Bridger and the other just looked at each other with dismay. They hadn't known about any communications between Sanderson and Lucas. 

Bridger thought back and everything now made perfect sense. The day Lucas ran into the house for no apparent reason. The nervousness he displayed by looking out through the curtains every five minutes just to see if someone was there.

It was all so clear now. The motorcycle accident hadn't been an accident at all. The driver had been Sanderson. Lucas apparently knew this. Something about a note in his jacket. Bridger and Kristen had not even thought to look at the jacket. Both thought that it was ready for the rubbish dump.

"You didn't tell anybody about our meeting at the shopping mall yesterday either did you? Sanderson jeered. 

"You didn't tell them about the e-mail I sent this morning, am I correct?"

Lucas didn't make any remarks to the comments of Sanderson. He knew everything he was saying was true. He hadn't told anybody about anything. But he was too paralysed with fear to make anything but a few small whimpers. He put his hands over his ears to try and block the voice. He didn't want to hear anything this man had to say. Something almost compelled him to listen though.

Bridger just shook his head again in regret. What kind of father was he? Here was his son who had been terrorized by a madman from his past a few months ago, and the first signs that something is wrong, he just tries to come up with another excuse.

Kristin just let hear silent tears fall. She couldn't bear the thought of Sanderson hurting Lucas again. She tried to shout into the Comm Link herself, hoping somehow she would get through to the teenager.

Ben and Miguel had been mentally kicking themselves over the shopping mall incident. Why hadn't they noticed how scared Lucas was, they had seen him nervous, but had believed his story about just being tired and sore. 

All the time they were looking for him, he had been within distance of the man who had hurt him. Now it looked as though the man was back to try again.

Ben though about the reaction he had received from placing his hand on Lucas's shoulder. It had been a similar reaction to the one he got the day Lucas ran into his room. 

_'God he was so stupid!'_ he mentally kicked himself again.

* * *

Sanderson had noted that there was no words coming from the teenager in the Stinger. He was able to monitor his position in relation to the SeaQuest with a small portable radar instrument of his own. He was sufficiently far away for the crew to be able to help him once he put his plan into action.

"I guess you're wondering where we go from here, Lucas," Sanderson said with little emotion, but conviction in his voice. 

"If you look out your port side you should see another old friend nearby."

The crew aboard the SeaQuest held their breath, dreading what was about to happen.

It didn't take long for them to hear Lucas's strangled reaction.

Lucas had nervously turned his head and looked out through the Perspex windscreen of the Stinger. He was greeted by the sight of a face leaning up against the other side trying to look it. 

He yelled in fright as he recognized the face. It was the same man that had been responsible for his attempted abduction aboard the SeaQuest the first time and the successful attempt the second time at the hotel.

The man could see the teenager through the glass. He grinned devilishly at the boy's plight. The boy couldn't go anywhere. He was trapped in this one man submarine with nowhere to go. Taking him from the Stinger was going to be so easy.

Sanderson had also heard the boy's reaction to his hired hand. He knew too that the boy was helpless. It was what he was praying for. 

Out in the middle of the ocean with nobody to help him. He couldn't have scripted it better himself.

"And now if you will agree to accompany my friend to the appointed destination, Lucas," Sanderson explained. 

"We can get on with the matters awaiting us. Oh, and if you think about trying to out run him, don't. If you choose not to co-operate, my friend has a nasty looking spear weapon in his left hand that he will use to immobilize your mini-sub."

Just for emphasis, the man could not hear the conversation inside the mini- sub, but held the spear menacingly in front of the terrified teenager.

Lucas was trying to back away from the man outside. He knew he couldn't go away but he was trying to curl up into a ball and make himself invisible. Suddenly with all the courage he could muster he shouted back into the Comm Link for the first time

"Go to hell , Sanderson!"

The man outside had not heard the words but noted the angry look on the teenager's face and guessed that the ultimatum that his boss had delivered had been unsuccessful. 

With a great deal of force he suddenly started pounding the clear Perspex trying to crack the surface.

The Bridger crew couldn't see what he was doing, but they could hear a faint banging sound through the Link. There own blood ran cold as they heard the pleas from Lucas for the man to stop.

"NO! You can't you'll put a hole in the windscreen and flood the whole sub," Lucas shouted at the man. 

"If you flood the sub I'll drown," the teenager pleaded with fear radiating through his voice.

Bridger heard what Lucas was saying and although he didn't know what was happening, he could hear Lucas saying that if whom ever it was outside Lucas's sub didn't stop, then he would drown. 

The crew felt helpless. O'Neill was telling them in the background that they were approximately 19 nautical miles from the mini-sub.

"I see you've decided to take the hard option," Sanderson said with little surprise. "Oh very well, I guess that you just have to test your skills against mine then." 

"Don't fret now, when I finally get my hands on you shortly, you won't believe the little game I have got organized for us to play."

With that Lucas heard the crackle from the radio subside signalling that Sanderson was no longer in contact with the mini-sub.

The man outside in the scuba gear continued to pound on the glass. Without too much more effort Lucas saw a small crack appear in the surface and the whole windscreen threatened to collapse and allow the ocean in.

"NO! PLEASE STOP!" Lucas shouted. 

"Please stop, you will crack the surface. The whole thing is going to burst. PLEASSEEEEEE STOPPPPP!"

The crew and Bridger could hear that Lucas was now very scared. They could hear the teenager trying to bargain for his life. They knew that he was in imminent danger. What could they do?

Just as Lucas thought he was going to drown in the sub. The man outside took the sharp looking spear weapon in his hand and held it just this side of the flexible tail of the sub. 

Then in a split second he had pierced a very angry looking gash in the tail. The sub no longer had any rudder control or steering capability.

The Stinger was equipped with a flexible tail that moved like a shark's tail. The material on the outside was specially designed to move like the scales on the tail of a real fish. 

If the man pierced that outer, the sub would start to manoeuvre out of control with no hope of regaining it. The sub wouldn't stop until it ran out of fuel or crashed into something solid on the ocean floor.

"Captain, I don' t know if you can here me," Lucas shouted through the Comm Link, he didn't know if anybody could hear him now. 

"I am at 12 degrees east and 43 degrees north approximately 4 nautical miles from the shore of a small uninhabited island, Please Help, I don't know if you are there, but _PLEASE HELP_!"

* * *

Before he got a chance to utter any more clues as to his position, the man outside did the unthinkable and pieced the Stinger's tail with the barb on the end of the spear gun. 

Campbell swam away quickly just in time to see the sub start to spin out of control. Where it would land he didn't know. He had instructions to follow the disabled craft and bring the young driver inside to his boss's appointed hideout.

Lucas tried desperately to gain control of the sub. He was spinning and spinning. He was glad he had slept right through dinner as it would have come back up by now. He was screaming through the Comm Link. He was getting turned upside down and inside out. 

The teenager didn't know how much longer he could hold on before the sub crashed into something. He had visions of his body exploding into a million pieces and scattered all over the ocean floor.

Without warning, the sub did hit something hard. A sand bar not far off the shore of the deserted island Lucas had indicated to the crew. As the craft struck the sand his head smashed into the Perspex. He lost consciousness. The disabled craft didn't have the power to go anywhere else.

Sanderson's sidekick swam up to the Stinger and peered in. He could see the bloody face of the teenager inside. He managed to use his bulk and strength to drag the stricken vessel into shallow water. Once satisfied it was on the beach enough he broke through the Perspex cover to reveal the unconscious youth inside.

The man could see a wound on the boy's temple. He didn't realize that Lucas had ruptured the wound on his head from the motorcycle accident. There didn't appear to be too many other injuries. He noted that the teenager couldn't make any effort to defend himself and Campbell easily dragged the unconscious teenager from the Stinger without protest.

As he dragged Lucas onto the beach he could see the boy had a few more bruises and scratches forming from the crash. They didn't look too bad. There seemed to be a few older healing wounds on his upper arm that had been torn open and the was a small amount of blood oozing from the arm and his head. He suspected that it would be sometime before the boy awoke.

* * *

Back on board the SeaQuest, Captain Bridger had to sit down. The only thing going through everyone's mind was the voice of Lucas yelling through on the Comm Link. 

At first he had been pleading with somebody to stop damaging the Stinger. The next thing they could hear was Lucas screaming in terror as the sub careened out of control. They did not know about it crashing onto the sand bar near the island.

They had to find Lucas. They just had too. Nobody wanted to think about what Sanderson might do to Lucas this time around.

* * *

Lucas came around slowly from his unconscious state. At first he didn't try to open his eyes. He licked his lips and noticed how incredibly dry his mouth felt. The need to find something to drink forced him to open his eyes and survey his surroundings.

The first thing he noted that he was lying down on a small bunk that was bolted to a cement wall. He tried to use his hands to help him into a sitting position and seen that his wrist was handcuffed to the bed. He was still dressed in his Marlin's shirt and jeans. Somebody had taken his sneakers. His feet were now bare of any footwear.

All of the fears that had been with him in the sub now returned as he remembered who was responsible for him predicament. He managed to make in into a sitting position and saw that he was in fact being help captive in a jail cell. 

The strange thing about it was that although his hand was handcuffed to the bed, the cell door was wide open. He looked through the bars and could some sort of scientific laboratory going on the other side.

His mind was beginning to wander to much and image all of the hideous plans that his kidnapper Sanderson had in mind for him. His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of somebody's voice talking to him.

"Ah, I see that you have finally woken up," Sanderson said very calmly. He knew that his mere presence was enough to instill fear into the boy, so he didn't need to masquerade behind any false displays.

Lucas just looked at the man with every muscle and nerve fibre in him screaming fear. He couldn't hide his feeling of helplessness. He was chained to a bed and being kept in a dungeon. What the man planned to do only made him tremble more at his impending fate.

"What do you want?" Lucas whispered. He knew the question sounded silly given the circumstances he found himself in, but he asked it anyway.

"Like I told you in the sub, Lucas," Sanderson explained, "I have planned a little game for you and I. I am sure you're going to participate to the best of your abilities. I am looking forward to the challenge."

"What makes you think that I will co-operate with you at all?" Lucas said now with a little bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Notice how your body doesn't ache at the moment, Lucas?" Sanderson asked simply.

Lucas stopped and thought for a minute. Sanderson was right. He had awoken up still having some healing injuries and no doubt fresh ones from the crash of the Stinger. But at the moment he felt fine, well fine in the sense of no pain.

Anything above that was infinite at this stage. There was the utter dread, the fear, the anguish, the wishing for the Captain and his friends to come and help him, but other than that he felt surprisingly good.

Sanderson could see the young man's mind ticking over, taking stock of his various injuries and noting how at the moment they didn't ache or cause pain like they should.

Lucas wasn't so sure he wanted to hear the reason why he didn't hurt. He looked up at Sanderson with the question already formed on his face.

Sanderson saw the look and answered the unasked question, "While you were knocked out, I took the liberty of giving you a quite unique and unusual pain killer."

Lucas looked down at both of his arms but failed to locate any injection site obvious to the naked eye. He had no false representations though, this was a man who was very intelligent and had been fooling around with genetic engineering for a long time. If he said he had given Lucas something unusual, he was telling the truth.

"What did you give me and what is so unique about it?" Lucas asked with hesitation.

"Well it's something I have been working on since our last meeting, Lucas," Sanderson said. 

"It's major side effect is it's ability to act as a very good pain reliever."

Lucas didn't think he wanted to ask this question, but he did. "What it the major function of this substance?"

"It's main purpose or maybe its advantage is that in large enough doses it is a very effective poison," Sanderson said with a evil grin.

Lucas heard the word _Poison_ and was now feeling the placebo like symptoms of such a word. He was sure that every vein and artery in his body was about to turn green at the thought of a poison being in them.

The word keep echoing in his mind like a bad movie cliché. He found himself swallowing harshly at the mention of being poisoned at the hands of this man. His pulse rate increased dramatically and sweat started to bead on his forehead from the uneasiness he felt.

"How do you expect me to complete this little game of yours if I am dead from your poison?" Lucas asked.

"Oh, don't worry, there is an antidote," Sanderson said. 

"And the poison is slow acting so I should say you have approximately twelve to fifteen hours left before your completely dead," he continued whilst looking at his watch. 

"Of course I couldn't exactly say when the poison will start acting on your body. I would think it would kick in long before then."

Sanderson started to explain the game without waiting for Lucas to make further comment about the poison he had been given.

"The game is simple enough," he began. 

"A little contest, me against you. If you win you find the antidote and get to live. On the other hand if you don't find the antidote or run out of time, you die. You will be given a walkie talkie to communicate with me but nothing else except your wits and what you have on you now."

"The object of the game is that I let your escape from this little hideaway. You get clues as to where you might find the antidote hidden. Your task is simply to find it to save yourself."

"What's the catch?" Lucas said. The game sounded oddly stacked against him anyway, but he doubted he was getting the whole story.

"There is no catch, Lucas," Sanderson said. "You find the antidote, you live, just like I said. Oh, but I forgot to mention that I will be out there looking for you," he said with a devilish grin. 

"Me and old Sheila here will be hunting you down to prevent you reaching your goal."

"Who is old Sheila?" Lucas asked with dread.

Sanderson was hoping he asked that question and now reached behind a table and grabbed out a very menacing looking cross-bow. It was black in colour and looked deceptively compact. 

Lucas had no qualms that in Sanderson's hand it could become a formidable weapon. In the right hands it could be very accurate with deadly consequences.

"I even had special arrow heads designed with you in mind, Lucas," Sanderson told the frightened teenager. 

He took out a small wooden box which displayed a series of screw able tips and matching arrow shafts. The tips had very sharp looking barbs protruding from them. They would be able to slice through muscle with ease.

Lucas didn't want to play this game at all, but it looked at though he didn't have much of a choice. He thought he had better find out about this clue that was supposed to save his life.

"What is this clue I am supposed to hear?" Lucas asked.

"The clue is in the form of a riddle," Sanderson explained. "You only get to hear it once. Are you ready to hear it?"

Lucas didn't think that his mind was in any condition to start taking on board any extra information at the moment but he found himself slowly nodding his head to the question. He thought about the part about it being a riddle. 

He hated riddles. He was supposed to be a genius but he had always failed at riddles whilst attending Stanford Univerrsity. They just never seemed to make any real sense to him:

**_'Be guided by one eyed jack in your quest._**

**_He will lead you down the path of no return._**

**_You will come across the bent old man with leathery skin._**

**_ He holds what you seek in the palm of his hand.' _**

Lucas listened intently to the words. At the end of the paragraph he just shook his head. 

It sounded like something O'Neill would say. He couldn't make head nor tail of it. 

He slumped in posture a little when he thought that his only life line in this whole messy affairs was a bunch of words that didn't make sense at all.

"The game starts as soon as you are ready, Lucas," Sanderson said. He walked over to the teenager and unlocked the handcuffs from around the teenager's wrist.

"You are free to go whenever you like," Sanderson said. "I will give you about a twenty minute head start."

"Oh Gee, your too generous," Lucas said snidely.

"I try to do my best," Sanderson said in reply.

"What about my shoes?" Lucas said looking down at his bare feet.

"Only what your clad in, I believe was the rules," Sanderson repeated. He placed a small black radio looking device on the bed beside the boy.

"It's already tuned into the only frequency available," Sanderson said, "You'll only be wasting time if you try and fiddle with it."

Lucas's hopes of fooling around with the radio like he had done on the raft with Kristin, Ben and Commander Ford during that hurricane were quickly dashed.

Better get a move on Wolenczak, if you want to live, Lucas told himself. He stood up and took small steps towards the doorway. He knew that Sanderson would be counting to twenty minutes exactly.

The game was about to begin...  


* * *

Back on board the SeaQuest, Captain Bridger and a number of his senior crew were pacing the Bridge trying to come up with a rescue plan.

First things first, they had to find where the Stinger was. Once they found the mini-sub, they would be halfway to finding their lost young friend.

Bridger was so out of his mind with worry for his teenage son that it took all of his concentration skills just to keep focused on the task ahead. He could barely bring himself to think about Lucas in the hands of Sanderson again. The man had caused him unspeakable pain on the last occasion.

Ben Krieg also let the fear for his friend show evidently on his face. He swore that when they got Lucas back this time, he was never setting foot off the SeaQuest alone again. If they got him back.

Tim O'Neill suddenly thought of an idea used in the past to help find the crippled Stinger.

"Captain," O'Neill shouted in triumph. "What if we did a Max Scully to find the Stinger?"

At first Bridger just stared at the Lieutenant not fulling grasping what he meant by Max Scully.

Commander Ford had understood O'Neill's excitement and now explained it to everyone on the Bridge.

"That's a great idea Tim. We can analyse the nearby seawater and see if we can detect any trace elements from the fuel of the Stinger in the water."

Bridger's and Ben's eyes lit up with a little bit of hope. It was a good idea. When they had been looking for Max Scully that time, they were looking for a Russian submarine that ran on diesel fuel.

By using the sensitive equipment aboard, they were able to detect minute particles of kerosene in the water, indicating the presence and location of the missing sub.

Ortiz hadn't added any words to the conversation, he was too busy punching the various buttons on his control panel. He was already trying to see if the idea was feasible. On the first two sweeps of the water, his and everybody's hopes were dashed slightly as he shook his head showing a negative answer to his tests.

The Stinger was nowhere to be seen on the radar. They had lost sight of it on the screen shortly after it started to spin out of control and they could hear Lucas's desperate screams.

He tried another attempt. And when he got the results back, reran them through the system just to make sure.

"Captain, I'm getting something here," he said excitedly. 

Bridger and the others crowded around the young Cuban man waiting him to confirm he had found something.

Bridger was whispering silent prayers up above that they had indeed had something to go on. 

"Come Mr Ortiz, don't let us or Lucas down," Bridger said softly. He knew that he was putting unnecessary pressure on the man, but he was hanging on with hope by sheer threads at this point in time.

"I'm getting 0.2 parts per million, Sir," Ortiz said. "The sample is low, but it is consistent. The concentration is at is highest along a shallow sand bar off an unchartered island."

"Captain, let me use my probe," Katie Hitchcock asked. "We will be able to scan shallower waters better using my Hyper Reality Probe".

Without waiting for the approval to use her invention, Katie started to put on the strange looking gloves and secure the red coloured glasses over her eyes. The Hyper Reality Probe was just one of the many hundreds of changes that had been included in the final fitting of the SeaQuest. It was never in the original plans that Bridger designed. But it had proven it's worth many times over in the past.

"Okay, baby, show me where to look," Katie whispered to herself as she started to search the shallow waters Ortiz spoke of. 

The images were a little out of focus, but they appeared in three-dimensional form. It would make spotting the wreckage of something small like the Stinger easier.

Wreckage. Katie felt herself force a lump down her throat as he thought they were looking for pieces. She could only hope that they found the Stinger mostly intact. That would be the only way Lucas could survive any sort of crash.

Katie keep her eyes on the images in front of her for a time. Then let out a small gasp as she saw something on the beach. She went back over the area carefully, making sure of what she had seen.

"Captain, I think I've got something," Katie said with a little dread in her voice. She didn't know if she could describe the grim details she was seeing through the probe's eyes.

The Captain walked over to stand behind Katie's console and watched the picture Katie provided. He also gasped, but a little louder at what he could see on the beach. They could make out the outline of a crumpled mini-sub on the sandy shore. The was a huge hole in the Perspex windscreen with horrible diagonal cracks that ran the length of the glass.

The tail section of the craft had been almost completely torn off by the crash. It lay at a twisted angle still barely attached to the cockpit. The was no mistaking the shape and marking of the craft on the beach. It was the Stinger, or was the Stinger.

"Commander Ford, I want co-ordinates of where that island is immediately. I want a hand picked team ready to go in 10 minutes. Make sure they have all the correct equipment for a beach assault operation. Set all weapons to stun only," Bridger demanded.

He made sure that he had everything he needed, including a small handgun which he tucked into his boot and then covered with the trouser leg of his pants. He was going to be prepared to anything.  


* * *

Approximately twenty minutes later, rather than the requested 10, the hand picked team from Commander Ford waited to receive their final instructions and embark on the shuttle and head to the mysterious island to rescue Lucas.

The hand picked team included, Commander Ford, Miguel Ortiz, Ben Krieg and Kristin Westphalen. Tim O'Neill asked to be included, but was told that he could play a much more important role back on the SeaQuest by manning the radio. Kristin had been selected for her doctoring capabilities.

Five people were now on their way in the shuttle, ready for anything. All had various thoughts running through their heads on the journey to the island. The team was kept small for the time being.

If Lucas really was in grave danger, then they would need to sneak onto the island undetected. The rest of the SeaQuest crew would remain out to sea, but within range should they be given the signal to help out.

"Make sure your weapon's are set for stun only," Bridger repeated. If that madman really has Lucas, there's no knowing what condition he is in or where he is being kept. I don't want Lucas getting caught up in any cross-fire."

"And remember, that the primary objective at this stage is finding Lucas. I want more than any of you to kill that bastard if he has hurt Lucas in any way, but we need to get Lucas to safety first," Bridger said.

Bridger could see Ben clenching his fists trying to keep himself calm. He felt sympathy for the young Lieutenant. He knew how Ben felt towards Lucas, he knew he wanted nothing more than to kill Sanderson very slowly and painfully, but they had to worry about Lucas first.

Ben would just have to keep a cool head for the time being. Commander Ford's on-land military expertise would be heavily relied upon for this exercise. They had clues as to the terrain on that island. They had no idea where Lucas was being kept. They would need to be stealth like in their actions.

They reached the island safely and all got out of the shuttle and walked onto the beach. They could see the Stinger's wreckage up a little bit further and almost ran to it to see if it had any clues. When they got there, the ruined sub was more devastating in real life than it appeared on the Hyper Realty Probe.

They could see the jaggered tear in the tail section that had caused the Stinger to careen out of control with no navigation or manoeuvrability Bridger ran his hand over the large hole in the windscreen and noted with fear that there was small spots of dried blood on the shattered edges.

Commander Ford look towards to trees in front of them and noted a shadowy figure standing beside one of the huge trees. The man had apparently not heard the rescue teams arrival onto the beach. He had his back turned and looked as though he was talking through a small hand-held radio.

Jonathan now moved silently up behind the man and grabbed him before he could get away. At first the man's size had been dwarfed from the view from a distance. Now he was closer, he could see that the man was a great deal bigger then himself. He thought he might have bitten off too much on his own, but then saw that the rest of the team were now standing with him, ready to back him up.

"That's the same guy that kidnapped Lucas last time," Ben Krieg blurted out. The man simply scowled at having been caught so easily. He was about to try and make a run for it and warn his employer when he heard Captain Bridger speak.

"Not so fast, my friend," Bridger hissed. "Where is he?"

The man grinned slightly and replied, "Where's who?" 

He knew who the man was talking about, but wasn't about to give any details away. Before he could say anything more, he felt a hard fist smash into his guts, taking his breath away. Bridger now grabbed a handful of hair and used it to yank his head back.

"I said, where is he?" Bridger repeated a second time. He was not about to ask a third time.

"By the time you get to him, it will be too late anyway," the man said and started laughing in Bridger's face.

Ben Krieg had had enough of this conversation that wasn't going anywhere. He was getting ticked off at this man's attitude. He had seen this man treat Lucas like a rag doll on more than one occasion. He walked up to the man and without asking permission, gave the man a small burst of energy from his weapon.

The weapon was set to stun as he was instructed and the man gave a startled cry and then sank to the ground without another word.

"Krieg," Ortiz yelled at his friend. He couldn't believe that Ben had just knocked out the only person who could have given them information to Lucas's whereabouts. He was ready to give Ben what for. He too was full of frustrated emotions at the moment.

"It's okay, Miguel," Bridger said to everyone's surprise including Ben's.

Krieg hadn't really been thinking about what he'd done until the man fell unconscious on the ground. Now looking down, he realised that he was in big trouble. He wanted to find out like the other about where Lucas was being held captive, but when the man had started laughing at them, he just lost it.

"I don't think this man was going to be very co-operative anyway," Bridger stated. He gave a wane smile to the Lieutenant to signal that he didn't hold an grudge against him for his actions.

Kristin had been silent all through these events. She had barely spoken a word since boarding the shuttle. This was very unlike the doctor. She was known for her volatile personality, but she was just too worried about Lucas at the moment. She bent down and picked up the small radio that the man had been speaking into. She saw that it was set to a particular frequency.

"Campbell, are you there?" came the crackled voice over the walkie talkie.

Everybody held their breath as they recognized that the speaker was Sanderson. He was trying to communicate with his assistant. Bridger and the other's didn't know about Lucas being free at the moment. If Sanderson knew that somebody else was on the island trying to rescue the teenager, Lucas might be put further at risk.

Ortiz now grabbed the radio from Kristin's hand and pressed the speak button on the radio ready to communicate with Sanderson.

"Yeah, Boss," Ortiz said in a strange sounding accent. He was trying to sound like a tough hood, but was failing miserably.

"You make sure you keep an eye on that beach front," Sanderson said. "I want to know the minute anything looks suspicious. Our little friend is on his way now," he continued. "And Campbell...?"

"Yeah, Boss?" Ortiz answered.

"Get something for that dreadful cold you have, out," Sanderson said.

The rescue team let out the breath they had been holding in. From the conversation that had taken place, it could be assumed that Sanderson had been fooled adequately for the time being.

"What do you think Sanderson meant, Captain?" Ford now asked cagily

"I don't know Commander," Bridger said honestly "It sounds like Lucas has escaped somehow. But that means he is on this island all alone. Sanderson won't leave it like that for long. He will be out looking for Lucas. We have to find him first."  


* * *

On the other side of the island, Lucas was just making his way outside. He got to the door and said to himself before he exited Could be worse you know!.

He opened the door and stepped out to find that the sky looked ominously like rain. Could be worse he repeated. He drew the thin material of his Marlin's shirt closer around him at the coolness of the air. He hated the rain. By looking at the dark sky above it looked as though he would be soaked in no time.

He looked in either direction, trying to decide which way to go. He looked to his left and saw that way probably led back towards the beach. The right hand path led towards the dense canopy and undergrowth of the island's interior. 

When he weighed it all up, Sanderson would soon be tailing him. If he had the choice of being seen out on the sand in the open, or amongst the dense forest where the trees might offer some sort of protection from Sanderson's sight, he took the latter route.

Just as he hit the tree line, the rain started to fall in large drops from overhead.

He grasped his walkie talkie and was about to tuck it into the waist band of his jeans when he heard Sanderson speak.

Bridger and the others were making their way from the beach and also had the walkie talkie with them. They all listened to the message from Sanderson to Lucas.

**_'Come out ... Come out whenever you are. Ready or not here I come!'_**

Lucas and Bridger both picked up their pace at these words, but little did they know that they were headed in opposite directions to each other.

For the next two and three quarter hours, Lucas trudged through the dense trees aimlessly trying to solve the riddle Sanderson had given him.

By now his clothing was completely soaked. The rain had stopped about twenty minutes ago but there were numerous puddles of water on the ground as Lucas walked through the undergrowth. 

The branches of the trees were wet, the leaves constantly dripped fat droplets of rain. He was genuinely miserable. His head ached and his still felt as though he could feel the poison from Sanderson coursing it's way through his weakened system.

Lucas found that he was tiring very easily due to the cold air and the worry he carried about the poison in his body. There had been several occasions when he had fallen over due to the muddy ground. 

His jeans were now caked with mud and feeling stiffer and stiffer with every waking minute. His hair was completely saturated and hung over his eyes so that every now and then, a droplet of water would fall onto the bridge of his nose.

If he wasn't so scared about being Sanderson's play toy, he would be totally ticked off. He rarely showed his temper, but felt like he could throw a good tantrum with the best of them right at this minute. He was getting nowhere fast and the time was ticking down to solve the riddle and find the antidote.

The walkie talkie in his waist band was set up similar to the radio in the Stinger. He could hear Sanderson's voice. 

Bridger and the others could also hear Sanderson. Lucas could talk and communicate with Sanderson. But Bridger and the crew could not communicate with Lucas. 

With every step Lucas took, Bridger and the other's could hear his unhappy mutterings and swearing.

"God Damn it!" he said loudly to no-one. 

"This riddle makes about as much sense as Krieg's theory of supply and demand."

Bridger had to smile a little at the words coming from the less than happy teenager.

Ben had a look of mock disgust at Lucas's comment. Kristin's thoughts were along the lines of having to have a discussion with Lucas about his swearing. She had rarely heard him utter a unkind word to anyone, but he was certainly making it up now.

'_ONE EYED JACK_" Lucas asked himself. "What the _fuck_ is that supposed to mean?"

Kristin furrowed her eyebrows again at the foul language, but she was trying to work out the phrase.  


* * *

Lucas had been walking through the bushes and plants trying to work out this problem. When he felt so angry he could explode he took a swipe at a small bush that was planted beside a large tree. 

The teenager wanted to take his frustrations out of something. If he had have been in the right frame of mind, he would have recognized that bush instantly. It wasn't until he took a few more steps past that the plant took its revenge out on the unsuspecting teenager. 

All of a sudden Bridger and the others, including Sanderson could hear Lucas yelling out in pain. He was grabbing at his left forearm and trying to quell the stinging sensation.

The pain was intense and relentless. Lucas had brushed up against a stinging nettle plant. Lucas took his hand away and saw that angry red welts were now forming on his forearm from the elbow to the wrist. The stinging didn't subside. Lucas was biting at his lip trying not to yell.

He looked about and noticed that there was a small stream on the other side of the trees. He immediately ran towards the stream while it still stung. It was as if he had been stung by a hundred swamping bees all at once. He threw himself down on the small embankment and submerged his stinging and burning arm into the water.

Initially, the water made no difference, but thankfully and much to Lucas's relief the water was freezing cold and started to douse the fire that ran through his arm. He went to put a small amount of water in his mouth for a drink, but spat it out before he could swallow it. It was salt water. The stream was too close to the beach to hold fresh water.

Bridger and the others had heard Lucas's gasps of pain. They didn't know what had happened, but it was obvious that something had caused Lucas harm.

Lucas took his arm out of the water once the stinging subsided. The arm looked very red. The angry raised welts had become bigger and now covered his forearm in a hive looking rash.

The walkie talkie's began crackling into life again. Sanderson was some distance away from his intended target, but upon hearing Lucas's screams of pain, guessed at what had happened.

"I suspect that you've come into contact with some of the more vicious forms of plant life on this island, Lucas," Sanderson said with malice.

"There are bushes on this island called Stinging Nettles. If you don't touch them, they are harmless. However, if you come into contact with them or brush up against the leaves, they cause a great deal of discomfort. Don't worry, the stinging only lasts for a few minutes, but it can be very painful."

"Go to hell, Sanderson!" Lucas yelled back into his walkie talkie. He was tired, aching and in no mood for comments from this man.

"You're wasting precious time, Lucas," Sanderson reminded the teenager.

"By now, that poison has been working through your body for a number of hours. It will only be a short time now before you start to feel it's effects. You'd better hurry up and solve that riddle if you want to live."

Ben Krieg was about to yell through the walkie talkie that Commander Ford had possession of. He had forgotten that he couldn't talk to his friend. He had heard Sanderson say something about poison and immediately felt very nervous for Lucas.

Kristin and Bridger had paled slightly at hearing Sanderson mention the word poison.

Bridger thought back over the conversation briefly and noted the description Sanderson gave of the surrounding flora. If Lucas had bushed up against any sort of bushes, then he and the rescue team were heading in the wrong direction. He quickly halted from their current path and voiced his opinion to the rest of the crew.

All agreed that Bridger was probably right and very perceptive. There not many bushes or trees to speak of in the direction they were heading. They turned around and started heading north. Valuable time had been lost now. They had to pick up their pace if they were to get to Lucas and help him in time.

* * *

After a further two hours of walking around without success, Lucas tiredness had reached dangerous levels. He was barely able to stay erect on his feet. His mental attitude to the whole situation had taken a battering also. His thoughts sank deeper and deeper into depression. He soon found himself talking to himself as he walked, not realising that anybody else was privy to his conversation.

"Face it Wolenczak, your licked," all heard Lucas say. 

"Your pathetic efforts to try and match Sanderson are useless. He's got you right where he wants you. Just like the last time. You couldn't help to save Alison and it doesn't look like you can help yourself now either. You should just give up and let him kill you and get it over with. You can't even solve a simple little riddle to save yourself. You're pathetic."

Bridger and the others heard Lucas's harsh self retribution and momentarily stopped their trek through the island's foliage. 

The Captain knew that if Lucas gave up on himself now then Sanderson would win without much of a fight.

Lucas had moved away from the little stream, still holding his arm closing to himself. He now leaned up against a large tree trying to catch his breath. He found himself coughing slightly from the cold air. His chest felt restricted and tight. He was bone weary. He didn't know if he could take another step at the moment without falling flat on his face.

The teenager was trying to assess his injuries and aches and pains. His feet were bruised and sore from the walking without shoes. The headache had gotten slightly worse. The stinging from his forearm had disappeared but much to his displeasure had been replaced by a God awful itchiness. 

Lucas had scratched and scratched at the red welts, making some of them bleed. The stinging had been painful, but anything had to be better than this itch. It was driving him to distraction.

Lucas had been too caught up in looking over himself to notice somebody standing about 50 metres in front of him. 

The figure moved behind a tree to disguise his presence. He smiled to himself as he watched the teenager leaning heavily against the tree. He could see the boy nursing a bleeding arm and looking ready to collapse.

Sanderson put his backpack down on the ground and opened it. He pulled out OLD SHIELA and the small wooden box to match it. He pulled out a long slim arrow shaft and then selected one of the screw on tips. When he finished putting his weapon together, he put the walkie talkie to his mouth and pressed the button to speak.

"LUCAS!" Sanderson said in a calm voice.

Lucas just about jumped out of his skin. He had forgotten about the walkie talkie briefly, but now the sound of Sanderson's voice made his skin come up in goose flesh from the fright,

Bridger and the others had been making their way through the trees. They did not know how far they had come or how far they had to go, but they knew that they had to keep going to help Lucas. They heard Sanderson's voice over the radio again talking to the teenager.

"Lucas," Sanderson repeated, "Look straight ahead of you."

Lucas didn't want to do Sanderson's bidding, but found his gaze wandering around the trees. He let out a gasp of fright as he spotted Sanderson standing not more than 50 metres in front of him. 

To his horror he could also see the cross-bow and gleam from the tip of the arrow that he had seen earlier.

The Captain heard Lucas's cry of fright and wondered what was going on. He guessed that Lucas must have seen Sanderson to be making a strangled cry like he had. He pressed his finger on the button of the walkie talkie he held and tried to speak to the madman.

"You leave him alone, you sick son of a bitch!" Bridger roared. "If you so much as harm a hair on his head, you'll be sorry".

This was the first time that Sanderson had heard somebody else on the radio frequency. He noted the words spoken and realised who was talking. Lucas also looked down at his walkie talkie and recognized the voice that spoke. He sagged with relief that Bridger was somewhere nearby.

"Captain, help me please!" Lucas yelled through the radio. "Please, he's going to kill me. Help me please." 

The teenager's was close to losing control of his emotions. The hoarse sound of his voice was replaced with a coughing fit. He had to steady himself against the tree for support.

Bridger had talked back to Lucas through the walkie talkie, but the teenager couldn't receive his messages on his set.

Sanderson had heard the Captain's words of comfort and worry, "Oh, doesn't that just sound sweet. The Captain is missing his little lost boy." 

"Sorry to disappoint you_Captain_ Bridger, but your little lost boy is going to be very dead soon."

Lucas had heard Sanderson's reply and now yelled angrily back at his tormentor, "Sanderson, you are scum, do you hear me, scum. You won't get away with this."

"Captain Bridger and the rest of my family are here to rescue me," he continued. He didn't really know if Bridger was alone or with some of the crew, but he decided to take a punt and assume that there were other's there to rescue him as well.

"The _Mighty_ Captain Bridger and his friends will be too late, Lucas," Sanderson yelled back. His voice was full of hatred towards the teenager. He suddenly noted the boy leaning up against the tree and smiled devilishly.  


* * *

"Gee, looking at how you are standing against that tree, Lucas," Sanderson said.

"You look just like William Tell. You know, the kid who's father shot the apple off his head with an arrow. I've got the arrow, but I'm afraid we will have to do without the apple. I am sure that the arrow will pierce your body just as easily as an apple."

Kristin now yelled loudly in unison with the others as they heard Sanderson threat to shoot Lucas with an arrow of some sort.

Lucas tired mind couldn't really remember who William Tell was for the moment, but he guessed at Sanderson's meaning. He could see the cross-bow in the madman's hand. He knew that he was in danger. He wanted to run but would only make for a moving target if he did.

"You know, Sanderson," Lucas started, "You are nothing but a coward. Oh sure, you act tough, but underneath, you are just yellow. Otherwise you wouldn't be here threatening somebody like me." 

He knew how the words sounded as they fell out of his mouth. He didn't care. If he was going to die, he wanted to make sure Sanderson knew exactly how he felt.

"Brave words, young man," Sanderson remarked, "Let's see how brave you are with this through you." 

He took aim at the vulnerable teenager. He didn't want to kill him, not just yet. The game had only just begun. He shifted his aim slightly and let go of the trigger on the bow.

Lucas found his body smashed back against the tree with terrific force. He knew that the arrow had hit him. Fortunately or unfortunately, whichever you decided was better, the arrow had struck him in the left shoulder. It entered just below his collar bone and the arrow head now protruded out the other side through the fleshy part of his shoulder.

Blood was oozing slowly out from the wound. The fact that the arrow was still embedded in his body, prevented the blood flow from being any faster. Lucas was trying to get air into his lungs. The pain was almost unbearable.

The barbs on the sides of the arrow head had sliced through the tissue on it's way through. Lucas screamed and screamed. The pain was so intense and totally overwhelming. His body lost it's ability up stay upright and he now fell on his rump underneath the tree.

Bridger felt like it was him that had been stabbed. He could hear the screams from Lucas. He knew that Sanderson had fired a projectile at the teenager and found it's mark. 

The Captain's face was now a scarlet red. He felt more anger at this man Sanderson than he had ever felt towards one man in his entire life. Even the anger he felt at Marilyn Stark did not compare to the hot blooded fury he felt now.

Bridger looked at the rest of his crew. He saw the exact same emotion played out on all of their faces. They all started walking again through the trees. None of them knew what would happen once they got a hold of Sanderson. It wasn't going to be a warm get together.

They were out for blood. 

Blood that Sanderson had spilled from their young friend. Even the military born and bred Commander Jonathan Ford had a look of absolute teeth ripping anger. How could someone do something so cruel to Lucas?

Sanderson wanted to keep the challenge going for a little while yet. He could see the teenager slumped against the large tree. 

The boy's eyes were closed and his face drawn with lines of pain and fatigue. How much more could Lucas take. It would be interesting to find out.

He quietly slipped away from his vantage point into the dense undergrowth. He would reappear again at the appropriate time.

"Remember the riddle, Lucas," Sanderson said as he faded into the darkness.

"Yeah right," Lucas told himself. He was barely able to keep a comprehendible thought in his mind at the moment due to the waves of pain that washed over his battered body. There wasn't a part of him that didn't ache or hurt in some form. The arrow wound was the most serious. Lucas knew if he didn't act quickly then the wound might become infected and swollen.

He tried to force himself into a standing position, but quickly fell back on his haunches. His muscles just wouldn't work properly. With a grimace he started crawling inch by inch on his hands and knees to the small stream he knew was only a few metres away.

Only a few metres to anyone else, but to Lucas who was injured, sick, tired and just totally fed up with his situation, it felt as though he was taking on the climb to Mount Everest. At the moment, he didn't know which challenge he would have relished the most. Trying to climb Mount Everest at least sounded safer.

* * *

After about thirty minutes of crawling through the leaves, the twigs and muddy soil, Lucas found himself on the bank from earlier. He had to put all of his efforts into getting enough air into his lungs at the moment. The pain was robbing him of any strength he managed to sustain. He was running on pure adrenaline.

He looked at the shaft of the arrow embedded into his shoulder. He tried to twist his head around as far as he could to get a look at the head protruding through his back. Something stirred in his memory, and he was suddenly reliving the scene from inside Sanderson's hideout. 

He remembered that the tips of the arrow's were screwed onto the shaft. If he could turn the head the other way, maybe the head would come off and he would be able to pull the shaft out this side.

He didn't have any medical supplies, or anything else to assist his doctoring of himself. He tore a small piece of fabric from his favourite Marlin's shirt and dried the sweat and blood from his hands. He needed to grip the arrow head securely in order to make it turn in the opposite direction to the shaft. He placed one hand on the shaft to steady it. He used his left hand to reach over and turn the head.

On the first attempt, he almost gave into the pain that emanated through him. He was sure for a moment that he might be sick. He tried again, slower but firmer and although he gnashed his teeth together. He gave a small cry of relief at the slight turn the head made against the shaft. He tried again, the blood making everything stick together and make it more difficult. His faced was a picture of utter misery. His eyes were squeezed shut ever so tightly and his teeth were gnashing together like the jaws of a steel trap.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lucas felt the arrow head come away from the shaft. The first part, and easiest task was complete. Now came the gut wrenching part, pulling out the shaft from his shoulder.

He gave himself a few minutes to recover from the pain. His veins felt like they had fire travelling through them inside of blood. The shaft had pulled on the severed tissue of his shoulder and pressed against the bone slightly. Lucas's skin colour had turned from slightly pale and wane to being gray and ashen.

He knew that the next part was going to be tough. He grimaced and thought that it was better to be quick then too let it linger on any longer. He grabbed a small twig about an inch in diameter and placed it firmly between his teeth. He knew that the pain he was about to feel was like nothing he had even experience before. 

The twig in his mouth would prevent him from biting down on his tongue during the torturous task.

He gripped the long shaft with both hands in front of him. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on anything else but the arrow coming out. He position himself so that he was sitting up with his legs crossed beneath him.

He counted _1... 2...3_ and then pulled. Tears of pain streamed down his face and he let out the most pitiful moan he had ever uttered. Nothing could have prepared him for the pain he felt. 

Even feeling his leg opened up by Sanderson with a knife couldn't compare. He felt every nerve ending and every muscle fibre as he pulled the razor sharp barbs back through his flesh. He felt as though his shoulder was on fire. He barely had any strength left.

The adrenaline rush he had been using was now dried up entirely. His shoulders slumped and he felt defeated. He gave one more determined pull on the shaft and felt it loosen it's hold on his shoulder. He looked down at the arrow shaft that he held and the noticed the blood covering his hands. It was everywhere. When he looked down at the horrible looking slash in his shoulder he could see more blood.

He threw the shaft away as far as he could, but it landed only a few feet away. He tore another clean piece of material from his filthy shirt and soaked it in the icy cold water of the stream.

He had taken the piece of twig from his mouth and tossed it aside too. The twig had dried out his mouth considerably. He dunked the fabric in the water and then squeezed some of the water into his mouth. The water was good. It eased his red raw throat and quelled the cough that had been caught in his throat.

Again he dipped the rag in the cold stream and then wrung the excess water from the cloth. He then proceeded to press it firmly against the wound. This time there was no twig to prevent his howls of pain. He let out a mournful cry of anguish like no other. The scream echoed through the trees and startled a few bird from their nests.

Lucas had no more to give. His body could not go any further. He felt the world before him tilt on an impossible angle and he lost whatever slim grasp he had on consciousness. He fell back against the muddy and sodden bank and lay still while the breeze ruffled his sodden baggy clothes and dried his wet blond hair.

He didn't realise that his screams had been heard by others.  


* * *

Sanderson had heard the scream and knew it came from Lucas. He smiled slightly thinking that the teenager had probably be screaming his last cry before death.

He was a little regretful that it had ended so soon. He was looking forward to battling his own wits against somebody called a genius.

He had walked some distance away from Lucas by this time. He decided that he needed to see that the boy was indeed dead. Sort of some symbolic gesture on his part. He would look at the kid's unseeing eyes and know that he had won, maybe not fairly or gallantly, but won none the less.

Bridger and the rescue crew had also been fairly close to the teenager when he pulled the shaft from his battered body. 

Bridger had never heard somebody scream like that before. It sounded like a wounded animal in it's last throws of agony. He dreaded to think that it might have been Lucas that made that sought of noise.

He leant on Lieutenant Ben Krieg briefly as the blood drained from his face and threatened to engulf him in blackness. Little did he know that Ben and Kristin were also on the verge of collapse themselves after hearing screams of pain.

Ben closed his eyes and clenched his fists in rage until they were white, "He has hurt Lucas," he said with venom in his voice.

"I will personally carve my initials into Sanderson's sorry behind."

Kristin tried to put a restraining arm around Ben, but was fighting her own emotions at the thought of Lucas being in great amounts of pain. She had dealt with some cold and calculating people in her life time. 

People such as Reuben Zeller. But she doubted that even Zeller would resort to such cold and callous treatment of a vulnerable and innocent teenage boy like Lucas. But he admonished herself, knowing that Zeller was responsible for mass murder, including her brother. At the moment she had to keep focused on helping Lucas, someone else she loved dearly. 

The Captain was on the verge of losing self control. It took all of Commander Ford's persuasion to get him to keep walking and keep focused on finding the missing teenager, no matter what condition he may be in. 

Bridger felt numb all over. It was though he was losing Robert all over again. He felt his heart turn black from the notion that Lucas, the person who had brought so much joy into his life, might be dead.

"No, I won't believe it," he admonished himself. 

"Come on everybody, we've got to find Lucas."

Everyone looked stunned at the Captain at first, but then took his words seriously and wiped away any of their own black thoughts and started to follow him further into the trees. Lucas was still alive, he just had to be.  


* * *

The hoot of a barn owl made the unconscious youth stir from his restless slumber. He had lost lack of time and space but looked at the darkened sky and knew that his time was almost up. 

If the arrow wound didn't kill him from infection, the poison must have worked it way through his system enough by now.

The teenager tried to sit up, but was lacking the energy. He rested a moment and just lay back watching the night sky with glazed eyes. He looked at the full face of the moon. He could see it's pearly white appearance against the black veil of night.

He could even see the large craters that dotted it's outer crust. Three big ones and a few tiny ones. The three of them almost made up a weird looking face.

It was only then, while in enormous pain and breathing shallowly that his brain triggered the words of the riddle in his head **_one eyed Jack_.**

Why hadn't he seen the answer before? It was so obvious it was silly. **_One eyed Jack_** was the moon.

With his body protesting strongly and aching from every orifice, he made it into the sitting position. The remainder of the words from the riddle now came into his head.** _The Old Leathery Man_.**

What looks like a leathery old man? He asked himself and looked around at the shadowy forest.

When Lucas was asked later, he would remember very little about his sense of rationality that had come from being immersed in so much hurt and misery. It seemed that his thoughts were more clearer the more his body hurt. The pain had opened up his sub-conscious mind to enable it to exist on another level.

It was difficult to see due to the darkening sky, but as Lucas looked back in the same direction he had come from he noticed something peculiar about the tree- line. He rubbed at his eyes and made himself blink a number of times before looking again.

He was looking at the giant old beech tree that was only about 10 metres away. Whilst it seemed to tower above some of the smaller saplings, it's trunk looked like kind of twisted. It had knots all over its surface and had curves and bends within it's structure that made it look like a very old man.

Lucas found himself stumbling and crawling towards the giant beech tree. When he finally reached it, he fell at it's base and tried to get his breath back. His body was trembling from its abuse and his shoulder was hurting like the devil.

One single thought kept Lucas's mind on the riddle. Maybe, just maybe he could solve this riddle and save himself with the antidote. Maybe he would live through this after all. He just had to find the missing piece to the puzzle and Sanderson's riddle.

**_Palm of his hand_**. 

Lucas looked up and down the tree looking for a clue. The bark of the tree was marked and stained like that of a weathered leather hide. It was rough to the touch and felt slightly abrasive against the palm of Lucas's hand.

Lucas looked up at the top canopy, but didn't see anything that indicated a hand. He was about to give up in frustration again when his eyes looked at the sprawled root system on the ground underneath the tree. He altered his posture a little and took a few shaky steps back to look at them from a bit further away.

He gasped in surprise, when he looked at the twisted roots that came from under the tree and fanned away from it's base, the roots almost looked like outstretched fingers. Fingers looking for something to hold onto.

**_In the palm of his hand is what you seek!_**

Lucas forgot his battered and beaten body for a moment. His lost adrenaline rush was replenished suddenly by the thought of having solved the riddle and be within a hair's whisker from finding the antidote.

Lucas started digging around the roots furiously with his hands. He was bending down clawing at the ground and spraying dirt out in all directions. His shoulder was screaming with pain and oozing dark red blood from the open wound, but Lucas drove the pain from his addled brain and concentrated on giving himself a chance to live. 

Within a few minutes, he felt something smooth underneath his fingertips.  


* * *

Lucas failed to notice in his flurry that he was no longer alone. Sanderson now watched the teenager dig at the base of the huge beech tree in a driven frenzy.

Maybe this boy was up to the challenge after all. Yes he looked beaten and tired.

Sanderson could see the pain etched in the lines on his face. His eyes were bloodshot and glassy looking. But from the teenager's actions, he had obviously solved the riddle and was looking for the mysterious antidote. Maybe he had underestimated his opponent after all.

"Ah-huh," Lucas yelled in triumph as he pulled the object out from it's dirt covered hiding place. The teenager rubbed away the caked and wet mud. He held it closer to his eyes and could see a darkish blue liquid inside a small hour-glass looking vial.

He had found the antidote. The bottle looked to have a cap on it. All he had to do was remove it and drink the contents and he would combat the poison that had been in his system for almost ten hours now.

He uncapped the bottle and held it out slightly ready to drink the strange looking liquid in one gulp. Just as he was about to put the vial to his cracked lips, the glass vial shattered in his hand and the contents were spilt on the forest floor.

Lucas whirled around and spotted the reason for the vial being broken.

Sanderson. The man was standing only a few feet away and now laughing whole heartedly at the look on the teenager's face. He stopped and wiped the tears of laughter away from his eyes as he saw the boy watching him.

"I really had you going, didn't I, Lucas?" Sanderson said with the grin of a cat.

Lucas just looked at the laughing madman with bewilderment. Sanderson continued his story:

"You really thought I had given you poison and there was an antidote," the man said and set off again in whales of laughter.

Lucas just looked at the man in stunned shock. He had thought there was a poison inside him. Sanderson had told him that he had been given a poison. He had felt his body grow weaker and weaker hour after hour.

But now thinking back, all of the symptoms had probably been the result of fatigue and the bout of flu he was getting from the soaking ran. The aches and pains could all be explained away by some other sort of reason other than the use of poison. 

He had been duped. Duped good and proper.

"You should have seen your face, Lucas," Sanderson said with giggles.

"The antidote you gave all your efforts into finding - It's only water. Plain and simple water with a dash of food colouring for effect. Got Ya! . Best gag I have pulled all year!".

Sanderson had been too busy laughing at the teenager to notice a change in the boy's facial expression. It had turned from being bewildered, to shock, surprise, and now it was turning a scarlet colour. Turning bright red from anger.

He was hurting so badly that he just wanted to curl up and die. He had been traipsing through these trees on this God forsaken island because he was told that his very life depended on it. Now he knew the truth, he was livid.

Lucas just stood still for a moment, gathering his feeble strength ready for the payback. He didn't care about the repercussions or the retaliation that might be returned. He had never felt this angry before. His blood boiled and surged in his veins. The increase in blood pressure caused his headache to kick into life again.

With all the strength he could possibly muster, Lucas walked calmly over towards Sanderson. He stood within a few inches of the man and waited for him to notice his presence. When the man looked at him in surprise at his close proximity, he coiled back his fist and let him have it.

Sanderson felt a fist driven into his unprotected face. He put his own hands up to his face in shock at the blow. It had hurt. 

The man was about to grab the kid by the scruff of the neck and give him one back when he felt a second and third blow, this time to his chest and stomach areas. At the moment he couldn't do anything against the barrage but defend himself.

He had thought the boy beat. Battered and bruised, too sore or tired to give any sort of assault like his was giving. The blows were a little off target at times, but when they did connect with his body, they hurt.

"This one's for Alison," Sanderson heard Lucas say and then saw nothing but stars and another fist rammed into his face. It had hit him square between the eyes and he now fell in an untidy heap on the ground at Lucas's feet.

Lucas looked down at his tormentor and shuddered in the cool breeze. It was finally over. He had beaten Sanderson. 

Now is was all over he could rest. He jerked around in fright at hearing another noise in the trees. He thought his eyes were playing more tricks on him as he spied five figures approach him from the dark shadows. They looked the Captain and his friends from the SeaQuest. But they couldn't be here.  


* * *

Bridger and the others had been drawn to the spot by the sound of voices. They had heard words and then what sounded like punches. They picked up their pace and came across Lucas standing in the middle of the forest with Sanderson unconscious at his feet.

Bridger felt frozen to the spot for the moment at seeing Lucas. The boy was alive. He didn't look too crash hot, but he was alive. 

The Captain was about to say something to his teenage son when he saw Lucas's body start to sway.

The last of Lucas's strength had vanished. He couldn't stand on his feet any longer. The wound from the arrow was now raised and swollen and showed the first signs of infection. The wound itself felt hot to touch. Lucas could sense the fever starting to burn within him and started coughing.

The coughing fit left him breathless. He looked at the face of his father and gave a small but genuine smile. The without another word, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell unconscious.

Ben had seen the teenager start to waver and now caught him by the slightest of margins. He lowered Lucas down gently to the ground and now started looking over his body to evaluate the extent of his injuries. He could see the head wound on his head had reopened but the blood was dry now.

He saw what looked to be some sort of strange rash on his forearm. But the wound that worried him most was the jagged hole that buried itself into Lucas's shoulder. The wound looked angry and red and swollen. 

Ben put a hand to Lucas's forehead and noted the fever that was present.

Bridger and Kristin were now pushing their way in to get to the injured boy. Bridger and Kristin looked at dismay at Lucas's condition. The boy's eyes were closed and sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cold air. 

Bridger stripped off his own warmer coat and now draped it over the shivering body of Lucas.

"We need to get him out of here and to a hospital quickly," Kristin instructed. She could see that Lucas's condition was very serious.

Bridger immediately went about trying to signal somebody from the SeaQuest on the walkie talkie. 

Eventually he was able to patch through to Tim O'Neill and instruct a Medi-Vac helicopter to be flown in. 

He ordered Commander Ford to make some sort of signal visible from the air as to the whereabouts of the party on the island.

Ben Krieg and Miguel Ortiz were looking down at the bruised face of Sanderson. Whoever had beaten him had done a good job.

"Lucas did all of that?" Miguel asked Krieg with some hint of pride. Not that he didn't believe Sanderson earned it. Looking at Lucas's injuries, Sanderson got off mildly.

"Good for Lucas!" Ben said bitterly. 

"That pig deserved everything he got and a whole lot more. I wouldn't mind putting a bullet in him right now just for Lucas."

At bitter as they were, neither of them could bring themselves to complete such a task as cold-blooded murder. Even if is was Sanderson. 

They would take him back to UEO headquarters and let him stand trial on charges of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm and assault with a deadly weapon.

The two of them now secured the unconscious man's hands behind him and roughly dragged him over to the rest of them and awaited the helicopter.  


* * *

Bridger got up from the hospital chair and walked stiffly over towards the coffee peculator. He had just spent five hours waiting for somebody to tell him something, anything.

He was worried out of his mind at how Lucas was.

The boy had been flown from the island to the best hospital UEO had to offer. Upon arrival, there had been bright lights and people bustling about giving orders and telling others where to go and what they needed to do to help the unconscious teenager.

Lucas had never regained consciousness after Bridger and his team had found him. They had tried to rouse the youth on a number of occasions without success. But his body was too badly injured to take anymore. His body was trying to cope with the blood loss, exposure to cold and exhaustion.

Kristin had told Bridger that the shoulder wound was repairable. 

Bridger wondered what _'repairable'_ meant. Would he have full use of his arm after it was healed? And what of the emotional scars and trauma after the physical injuries had been taken care off.

Bridger was strong and would be there whenever Lucas needed him. But being in this sterile environment, he felt something had been taken away from him. He didn't know if he possessed the skills needed to help his son get over this crisis. He hoped and prayed that he did.

Kristin had been the tower of strength among them all. She had given the orders in the forest of how Lucas should be moved and how to care for him until the helicopter arrived. 

Her actions were concise and accurate. She gave strict instructions to those around her and expected them to be carried out without a word of argument.

Truthfully, if Nathan had asked doctor friend what she was feeling he would have been mistaken. She looked tough and rigid on the outside. But inside, her legs were like jello and she had to fight back the panic that threatened. She had been appalled as all of them at Lucas's mistreatment. There didn't seem to be an inch of Lucas's body that wasn't marred by a bruise or scratch of some kind.

Bridger looked up and saw Kristin walking towards him with another man beside her. The man was wearing a hospital issue gown and a funny looking hat on his head.

"He is going to be alright, Nathan," Kristin said softly. 

"It is going to take some time for him to mend. But with lots of rest and the correct medication, he should heal just fine."

Bridger had to go back over her words again in his head before he would believe them.

Ben Krieg had been sitting on a chair in the corner near the Captain when he heard the good news. He leapt out of his chair with a whoop of delight and hugged everybody around him in happiness. He even gave the startled surgeon a bear hug and wet kiss.

Bridger smiled when he saw the other's mans reaction to Kristin's diagnosis. He actually felt like doing the same thing himself.

"Can I go and see him?" Bridger asked nervously.

"Yes, but he is still recovering from the heavy sedation he received in the Operating Room at the moment. He will be very groggy for the next few hours."

"We repaired the damage to his shoulder and stitched up the wound on his scalp, but we want to restrict any movements for the next couple of days or so. His body really does need a lot of rest to heal. He is going to be sore for quite a few months to come."

* * *

Bridger followed the surgeon and Kristin into a small private room down the corridor. Inside he found a single bed and lots of other medical equipment he couldn't identify. There were monitors beeping and making all sorts of funny noises. There was a tube running from Lucas's nostrils to another machine that was regulating his breathing.

The boy looked so still in the bed. He had a large swath of bandages wrapped around his shoulder and arm. The arm was pinned to his side to prevent any movement that would disturb the newly inserted stitches.

Lucas had another smaller and thinner bandage wrapped around his forearm from wrist to elbow where the welted rash had been. Lucas was laying on top of the covers and could see that the teenager's feet were also lightly bandaged. They too had taken a battering and sported various cuts and bruises on them from his ordeal.

Ben Krieg had come into the room with his Captain and boss. He didn't know what to say. How could you find the words to comfort your best friend that had been beaten and almost killed by a madman? 

His own emotions were so mixed up at the sight of Lucas on the bed. He made a promise to himself to be there too if the teenager wanted it that way.

Lucas's eyes started to flutter open at the sound of somebody else in the room. He opened them a crack and saw through blood-shot eyes, his father and best friend standing by his bed. He looked around slightly and noted that Ortiz and Kristin were also into room.

He didn't know who the other man in the room was, but guessed that he was some sort of doctor. God, he hurt everywhere. If somebody were to ask him where it hurt, he wouldn't know where to begin the long list.

"Hi," he said in a whispered voice. 

"Did I get him?" he asked and his eyes started to close again from the drugs and pain killers in his body.

"You sure did, kiddo," Bridger said as he grabbed Lucas hand gently to assure him that everything would be okay.

"Course you did Lucas," Ben Krieg said out aloud. He didn't know all the correct comforting words to use, so he injected his normal twisted sense of humour instead into the conversation.

"Miguel here, is offering five to one odds for you to win the next feather weight title at Madison Square Garden," Ben told his friend with a large smile on his face.

Everybody tried to laugh at Krieg's comment, but it was hard when they looked back and eyed the bruises and bandages.

"It is really over Dad?" Lucas asked with hesitation.

"Yes, it's over, Lucas," Bridger said as he put his arms around his slightly trembling son. 

"Sanderson won't hurt you again, I promise!"

With that comment and the fact that he was very sleepy, Lucas fell asleep again. This time it was a deep healing sleep. 

Yes, it would take time to heal, maybe more than people realized, but it was over and Sanderson couldn't get to him anymore.

* * *

On the other side of town, Paul Sanderson was being led handcuffed and shackled to his new cell. He had been tried on a string of serious charges for kidnapping, threatening and hurting Lucas.

Lucas hadn't needed to attend court. He was still recovering from his injuries in hospital. 

They had used a closed circuit video link up to take documentary evidence of the injuries inflicted. Lucas had been able to pre- record his statement to the court to prevent any unnecessary stress that would be placed upon him if he was forced to take the stand in a criminal trial.

The jury had been appalled as anybody else at the extent of the young man's abuse and torture. They had retired for no longer than 30 minutes and reached a verdict of _GUILTY_ to all counts.

The presiding Judge had sentenced Sanderson to five years jail. He had wanted to make it longer, but technicalities that were highlighted in by Sanderson's defence counsel prevented him from imposing a harsher sentence.

The guard stopped him outside the new cell he would call home for the next few years. He stepped forward into the darkened room as instructed and heard the electronic lock of the cell door kick in. He was trapped in this cage now. He would be looking through these bars now for a while.

"All because of some _smart alec_ teenager," Sanderson swore bitterly as he thought of his fate.

"You too," came a voice from inside his own cell. 

Sanderson hadn't noted anybody else in the cell when he stepped inside. He looked around and noted that somebody was standing in the shadows of the bunk beds in the room.

The man stepped forward. 

Sanderson recognized him immediately, but knew that the other man didn't recall him. The man offered his hand in friendship and made the formal introductions to his new cellmate:

"Name's Wolenczak... Lawrence Wolenczak. ..."

END OF PART TWO


	3. ABSOLUTE FEAR

**HAUNTINGS TRILOGY**

**ABSOLUTE FEAR**

**By Jules**

**THIRD PART OF THE TRILOGY**

**Author Notes: I have edited a number of scenes in this story, but the one that I couldn't was were I had Kristin secretly drug Lucas to take him away from the island. I guess when I first wrote this story I wasn't really thinking that this wouldn't be something that Kristin would normally do - especially to Lucas. I did try and make amends with the scene of Lucas getting angry about it - so for the sake of this story - I will leave as I originally wrote.****  
**

Lucas Wolenczak was sound asleep when the knock came at the door.

Nathan Bridger had been dozing in the chair and was startled slightly by the loud rap. It was 10.00pm at night. Who could it be at this hour?

Kristin Westphalen had checked on the teenager upstairs a few times that evening, but had then soon retired herself. She heard the knock at the front door downstairs and also wondered who it could be. As she made her way to the stairs she could see through Lucas's open bedroom door.

The boy was still asleep. He was laying on his side facing her with a pillow clutched tightly to his chest like a security blanket. It pained her to see him sleeping like that. It was almost as if he was holding onto something, not wanting to let go.

This little phase and the nightmares that now occurred more than once a week were all the results of his being in Sanderson's clutches again. There was still so much more ground to be covered yet before he was fully recovered both emotionally and physically she thought. With that thought still in her mind she descended the stairs.

By now, Nathan had opened the door and was greeted by the presence of his old navy friend Admiral William Noyce. He will a little surprised to say the least.

"Bill!" he greeted the man with a smile and a hearty hand shake. 

"What brings you out here this time of night?" Bridger and Kristin could both see that something was troubling Noyce. He held his navy issue cap in his hands and looked as though he might tear it apart from his nervousness.

"Oh, Hi Nathan and Kristin," he stammered. This was not going to be very easy.

Bridger offered him a chair, but under the circumstances, Noyce decided it best to tell his friends the news whilst standing. He couldn't see any sign of the teenager but he asked just in case, "By the way, where's Lucas?"

"He's sleeping," Kristin answered simply. "He has not been following doctors orders very well and his is beginning to feel the effects. His body is tired and needs to rest more. Most of the bandages have come off, but that shoulder will still take some time to heal." 

Noyce just nodded his head at the information. He was glad that the teenager wasn't here to overhear what he was about to say.

Bridger could see his friend's uneasiness and tried to joke with him, "What is it Bill, you look like you just lost your best friend?"

"I wish it were that simple Nathan," he answered. You both had better sit down for this. I am afraid I have some bad news."

Bridger and Kristin just looked at each other and briefly glanced upstairs towards the person upstairs.

"You'd better tell us, Bill," Bridger warned. "Is this something to do with Lucas?"

"I am afraid it is Nathan," Bill replied. "You're both not going to like what I have to say and Lucas is going to like it a whole lot less. I have some bad news and some very bad news. Which do you want first?"

_'That's it_' Bridger thought to himself. Not good news and bad news, bad news and very bad news. Something was terribly wrong again and he felt his own fears start to gather in the pit of his stomach.

Noyce didn't know how to start the conversation. Nothing he was going to say would put these people's minds at ease. Here goes he said to himself.

"You know about Sanderson going to prison?" he stated. Kristin and Bridger now looked at Noyce with apprehensiveness at the mention of that man's name. They too were glad that Lucas wasn't present at the moment.

"Go on, Bill," Bridger encouraged.

"Well when he got sentenced he got sent to the Maximum Security wing as you know. What you didn't know is that he wasn't placed in a cell on his own."

Bridger and Kristin didn't know where this conversation was headed, but kept looking at Bill with great intrepidation.

"Why should it matter to us or Lucas that Sanderson has to share a room with someone?" Kristen now asked.

Bill put his hand up and gestured for Kristen to let him finish.

"I just got a call from the Warden at the prison, Nathan," Noyce started to explain. His voice was wavering at having to tell this bad news, "Sanderson and his roommate have escaped."

Bridger and Kristin let out a gasp of utter shock and horror at this information.

Bridger was now jumping out of his chair and waving an angry finger at his friend, "How could they do this Bill? How could they let someone like Sanderson escape?"

How was he going to tell Lucas that the person he feared most was on the loose again? He had promised that the man wouldn't hurt him again. Now that promise had been shattered into a million pieces.

"That's not the worst of it Nathan," Bill said with dread.

"NOT THE WORST OF IT," Bridger shouted. "How can that not be the worst of it. That maniac is on the loose again and you don't even know where do you?"

"It's not the worst Nathan because you don't know the name of his roommate," Bill almost whispered.

Now Kristin plucked up the courage to ask the question that hung in the air, "Who was Sanderson's roommate? Was it that other guy on the island. That Campbell fellow?"

"I only wish it were, Kristin," Bill said with dismay. "The other roommate with Sanderson was Lawrence." 

Noyce waited for the retribution that would come. It was delayed for a few seconds. Bridger and Kristin were trying to put the name Lawrence to a face and put it together in the whole scheme of things.

Kristin hitched in her breath and looked wide eyed at Noyce, "You don't mean_THAT_ Lawrence do you?"

"Yes, Kristin, Sanderson's roommate was Lawrence Wolenczak!"

It was Bridger's turn to gasp in horror. How could this be possible? How could the two people who had hurt Lucas the most be in the same cell together? _WERE_ in the same cell together Bridger corrected himself.

Now he was being told that the two men were on the run and possibly together. How could he explain this to Lucas? How could he promise to protect him again? He put in head in his hands and tried to shut out the images that haunted his mind.

"What's all the shouting about?" came a voice from behind them all. All three turned around and now noticed a very sleepy looking teenager walking down the staircase.

"Hi, Admiral Noyce," he greeted the man. Lucas looked from Noyce to the Captain, to Kristin and back to Bridger again. The look on their faces told him that something was wrong.

"WHAT?" he said. "Have I got my pants on backwards or something?" he added trying to dissipate the heavy atmosphere inside the room.

"Lucas, honey, sit down," Kristin said gently. "I am afraid that we have got something to tell you."

Lucas was now nervous. It wasn't normal for Kristin to ooze such sweet sounding sentiments this late at night unless something was verywrong.

Kristin sat on one side and Bridger on the other as Noyce repeated his story. He told it the same to the teenager. Just like he had to Nathan and the doctor.

"NOOOOOOO," Lucas began, his voice becoming strained. The fear radiated from him. It couldn't be possible. How could he possibly protect himself against the two of them?

At first he had just slumped back against the armchair, trembling with fright. But all of a sudden he jumped up from his seat and started to throw accusations at his father.

"How can you be telling me this now!" the teeanger shouted. 

"You said said it was _OVER_! You said Sanderson couldn't hurt me anymore!"

"Now you are sitting there telling me that he has escaped. And just by some strange sheer coincidence my _FATHER_ is his accomplice." 

"You said you would protect me from them. Remember!"" 

"_YOU PROMISED!...YOU PROMISED_!"

Before anybody else in the room could react, Lucas ran up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door with great force.

* * *

Once he got inside, all the fight in him soon evaporated. The teenager sat on his bed with knees drawn up to his chest. Tears of fright threatened to run down his pale cheeks. He found it difficult to fathom the twisted turn of events that had just been told to him, but he forced himself not to be weak and let his emotions show.

Sanderson and his father together, such an horrific alliance was almost too much to comprehend. And no doubt plotting their revenge against him as he spoke, Lucas convinced himself.

Downstairs, Bridger just sat on the same chair with no emotion showing on his face at all. "Lucas was right. He had promised to protect the teenager. But how was he going to do that?"

Before Bridger could take the time to comfort the angry teenager upstairs. The three of them downstairs really needed to come up with a plan to keep him safe. There was no way he could let Sanderson or Lawrence Wolenczak get to him again.

"What are you going to do Nathan?" Bill asked.

"I don't know really know, Bill," Bridger said in all honesty. 

"We need to get him away from here thought that's for sure. This is the first place they would come looking," he added. Kristin and Noyce nodded their heads in agreement. Bridger's little secret island was no longer so secret or safe anymore.

"What if we booked into a motel for a little while?" Kristin suggested. " We could notify some of the senior members of the crew and get them to help protect Lucas."

"That's not a bad idea, Kristin," Bridger said trying to sound pleased at a resolution.

"It might be better for now to keep it simple. Just Ben and Ortiz maybe? We will have to make sure that the room is away from any outside windows too."

"What are you going to tell Lucas?" Bill asked. Although he knew that the teenager might be very scared at this point in time, he doubted that Lucas would agree to be hidden away from society for any length of time.

"I think the best idea would be not to tell him for the moment," Kristin recommended.

"If we can move Lucas to the hotel first before he knows he is going anywhere. By the time he wakes up, it will be too late to say No."

"What do you mean, _'Wake Up'_ Bridger asked, but he had a sneaky suspicion he knew exactly what Kristin had in mind.

"You go and check on him, Nathan," Kristin said getting up. "Bill, you come with me, you've got some urgent leave of absence notices to sign, right?"

Bill and Nathan agreed with the doctor. In this no-nonsense mode, Kristin was hard to deter from her intended objective.

* * *

Bridger climbed the stairs in his house with great hesitation. He had heard the angry words Lucas shouted earlier. The teenager was angry and scared. And he had every right to be. 

The boy had been hurt over and over again by those two madmen. And when it came down to it, Bridger reminded himself that he hadn't been there when Lucas needed him most. 

He hadn't been there when Sanderson had Campbell forcibly take the boy from the Stinger only weeks ago. He wasn't able to prevent Sanderson shooting him a few months ago whilst Lucas was tied to a chair. 

What made him think that he would be able to protect him this time?

Bridger knocked on the door. He heard a faint _"come in"_ from the other side. That was a start at least. He had expected that the teenager wouldn't have even let him in the door.

A triumph. A small one maybe, but wars like this were won by taking small steps. When he entered the room, Lucas was sitting beside the window on a chair looking outside.

Lucas hadn't turned around when the Captain entered the room. His eyes never diverted from their unending stare through the glazed pane of glass. When he finally did turn around, Bridger saw the same look in Lucas's pale blue eyes. Glassy and distant.

Bridger walked over to Lucas and tried to put an arm around him. He couldn't help but notice the small tremors of fear that still ran through the teenager's body. The boy couldn't hide his fear, no matter how hard he tried.

"I don't know what to say, Lucas," he said softly. "I know I promised that I would protect you. I don't know how I am going to do that, but I meant what I said," he continued.

He cupped the boy's chin and made face him for the next statement: "I love you more than you could possibly imagine Lucas. There is no way on this earth that I will let either of those two scum bags get anywhere near you. You have to trust me. I will not let them hurt you. 

Do you trust me, Lucas?"

"I don't know," the teenager replied. "I don't know what to believe anymore, or who to trust. Everything I get told seems to get blown to pieces just as I begin to relax a little. I just don't know."

"Come on junior, you look beat," Bridger said trying to lighten the dark mood. "It's very late, your body is still healing, you need to rest it."

"Why?" Lucas asked bitterly. 

"So my father or Sanderson can hurt me again. Don't look so surprised Captain. My father will find a way to get to me. Sanderson we could probably elude for a time, but my father, he lives to see me in misery."

"It's written in the Lawrence Wolenczak bible of daily things to do. If you look under Section 1 it says : Hurt Lucas. If you skip a few sections and go to Section 8 or 9 it says refer to Section 1. It's like it's my destiny in life to be his endless source of amusement."

Bridger just felt helpless. The depression Lucas felt was getting deeper and deeper. The teenager couldn't see any ray of light at the end of the tunnel. He had almost given up on himself.

"Please, do it for me," Bridger pleaded. 

Lucas looked at the Captain, wanting to feel safe in the man's presence, but he couldn't help but feel very far from safe at the moment, despite Bridger standing right beside him.

"We will find a way to get through this, _together,"_ Bridger commented, watching the turmoil of emotions echo across the teenager's face like a stain. 

The teenager reluctantly sat on his bed, running a nervous hand through his hair, trying to make more sense about what the next few days might bring. He let out a deep breath that he had been holding in, attempting to quash the uneasiness that was beginning to grow within him.

Lucas yawned, signalling that he was tired, but sleep felt like the last thing he should be doing. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind the teenager was telling himself that he should be running. _Now. Right Now._

Bridger watched as the tired boy laid back on his bed, trying to fight against the fatigue that plagued him. _  
_

Lucas turned away from the Captain, not wanting to discuss the matter any further, rolling onto his side and closing his eyes. It was clear though that he wasn't sleeping or planning to anytime soon.

The Captain sat down on the side of the bed, not offering any further conversation, but instead, reaching out and resting his hand on the teeanger's back. Lord knows he didn't have the right words to offer.

Using slow and steady motions, he began rubbing in a circular pattern, hoping that his touch would help Lucas relax enough to fall asleep and get some rest.

Lucas wanted to tell him to stop, but his eyelids were growing too heavy and the words didn't come.

It was a good ten minutes later that Bridger found himself still continuing the soothing treatment that he felt the teenager's muscles in his shoulders and back relax and Lucas's breathing slow down and even out. 

Grateful that his actions had worked, he stood up, looking down at the teenager as he slept. He reached down to the end of the bed, pulling up the blanket and settling it quietly over the slumbering form.

Bridger gave a silent prayer that the boy would rest for what was left of the night. He swore that he would do everything physically possible to keep Lucas safe. 

* * *

The next morning saw the Bridger's island household a hive of activity. 

Ben Krieg and Miguel Ortiz had raced to the island hideaway as soon as they learned about Sanderson's escape.

Upon hearing the news, Ben had flew into a similar fit of rage as Bridger and Kristin. The Lieutenant couldn't bear to think of Lucas being the target of his father again. The crew had worked very hard over the last few months to try and get things back to normal on the boat for Lucas.

The crew had tried to be his friend when he needed it, but stood back far enough not to be stifling. Lucas was a very private person, and he had just started to open up a little to them once he felt a littler safer.

Kristin and Nathan had been busy packing essentials while the teenager still slept. He had taken a long time to go to sleep after being disturbed. The Captain had stayed with him for a few hours, but it was well after three a.m. that Lucas found himself drifting off into a fitful repose due to his soothing touch.

Kristin threatened to skin anybody alive that woke the teenager any earlier than necessary this morning. She had made everybody a hearty breakfast, including Lucas.

Kristin just didn't want to elaborate what the added ingredient was to Lucas's glass of orange juice. With a little poking and prodding from the rest of the crew, the doctor finally gave in and explained the importance of Lucas finishing his breakfast beverage.

She had slipped a mild sedative into the orange liquid. It was fast acting and she made sure that everybody would be ready to catch the young man as he passed out. Once asleep, the plan was for them to make their way to the reserved hotel on the mainland. Bridger had booked and paid for a fortnight's accommodation on his master card with the option of extending after that if necessary.

Once the sedative was ingested, it would keep the teenager asleep for a good number of hours. When he awoke, he would be safe in the hotel with Ben and Miguel as bodyguards. The two men promised that nobody would get through them to Lucas.

Lucas would be confined to his makeshift quarters until they were assured that Lawrence Wolenczak and Paul Sanderson were back behind bars.

The teenager might not like it. He may throw the tantrum from hell about being kept confined and under everybody's constant eye. But if it made sure that he remained safe, then they were all prepared to put up with Lucas antics that lay in store.

Almost on cue, Lucas walked stiffly down the staircase. He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning hugely. He had only gotten about three hours sleep compared with the twelve he needed.

Lucas greeted his two parental figures, "Morning," he offered and gave another yawn. He walked over to the table and sat down. It was only then when he looked around at the other two people sitting at the table that he noticed his best friend Ben and Miguel enjoying Kristin's cooked breakfast.

Ben and Miguel were told to act as though they didn't know what was going on.

"Look what the cat dragged in, Miguel," Ben prompted with a fake smirk.

"Lucas, you look ready for bed again," Miguel remarked. He wanted to sound normal, but his attempts at satire were coming off as a bit lame.

"Gee thanks," Lucas replied not noticing the winks between everybody else at the table.

"When did you two decide to become so chipper first thing in the morning? What happened Ben, did you wet your own bed last night?" Lucas said with a grin. 

The teenager was trying to sound normal as well. After last night's devastating news, he was very pleased to see his friends full of what appeared to be mirth and mischief.

"I'll have you know that I have been potty trained for some time now, Lucas," Ben replied with mock hurt. 

Three of them at the table laughed at this statement. Lucas looked around and seen the others laughing. The Captain was laughing, Kristin was laughing, but why did laughing sound so strange at the moment. It was as if the joke was stale even before the punch line was delivered.

Kristin saw out of the corner of her eye that Lucas had the glass to his lips. She was pleased to see it deposited back onto the table almost empty. Now she and the others just had to wait.

Lucas made as though to get up, "Come on Ben race you down to the beach for a swim."

"Yeah okay, but I get a head start on account that I am the geriatric here," Ben agreed. He was too busy staring intently at the boy's face waiting for the expected fall.

They all didn't have to wait too long. Lucas started his next sentence, "Hey, the Captain here is the geriatric...," He never got it finished. Ben almost didn't catch him when he collapsed with little warning.

"Whoa, there Lucas," Ben said as he caught his unconscious friend. He felt like a rat. He didn't like the idea of hiding Lucas away. He like the idea of having to drug and deliberately lie to Lucas even less. He definitely felt like a rat.

Kirstin seemed to be reading Ben's obvious dislike of the situation. "It will be okay, Ben," she reassured the Lieutenant. "The sedative is mild, but it has only put him to sleep."

"Apart from making it easier to take from away from here, it will give him a real genuine chance to get some much needed sleep. I don't think he slept more than four hours last night. All of this worry on top of the physical pain he already has will only lead to him burning out completely."

"What do we do now?" Ben asked still holding onto Lucas's sleeping form. The kid's face looked peaceful enough. The Lieutenant just hoped that they could keep it that way.

"You and Miguel take Lucas out to my car," Bridger now spoke.

"I'll grab the rest of the stuff and we will make a start towards the mainland. Once there, I will give you the rest of the plan so far. After that, it's all ad- lib. I don't really know what those two are going to throw at us or Lucas. But we all have to be ready for anything."

Miguel now assisted Ben with the teenager and they started heading towards the vehicle parked out the front of the house.

"Make sure that you keep him warm," Kristin reminded them. "That sedative is likely to cause a drop in body temperature. The last thing we need is for him to get sick."

Once outside, Miguel and Krieg placed the sleeping youth along the back seat of the vehicle and then placed two woollen blankets over him as instructed.

Ten minutes later, Kristin climbed into the vehicle and they all started the journey towards the secret rendezvous that Bridger had arranged.

Bridger had used a personal friend to ferry the five of them to the mainland. He wasn't ready to trust too many people at this stage. The fewer people involved, the much smoother things would run.

* * *

Once they reached the hotel, the Captain approached the front reception desk and sign the register. The hotel was a little more upper class than Ben and Miguel had suspected.

The lobby was huge and was adorned with many fine things. Giant pot plants stood handsomely against the large marble pillars. The desk clerk was dressed in a black uniform trimmed with maroon piping. His hair was slicked down and he was trying to look part of the hotel's Concierge. 

Bridger surmised that he was probably the lowly paid bell hop trying to make his move into the higher realms of hotel management

"Thank You, Mr... Mr Bridger," the clerk said as he glanced at the signature. Ben and Miguel had carried the still sleeping Lucas into the lobby followed by Kristin Westphalen.

The clerk gave the Captain a strange look as to say, "What's going on?". He knew the man had said that they wanted a suite for five. Two double bedrooms and a single one.

He didn't know about them bringing in a teenager who seemed to be less than well. "It's okay," Bridger said trying to think of an escape without giving away their true reason for staying at the hotel. 

"He's just getting over some serious injuries and still gets very tired very quickly. Don't worry, we brought him here to relax and recuperate a little. Everything will be fine. We will only need to contact you for messages and meals and so forth." 

It wasn't a total lie, but it wasn't the total truth either.

The clerk nodded his head apparently happy with the explanation. If people wanted to stay and pay up to $5 000.00 for a week just for the young man to sleep, who was he to stop them? He had certainly seen more bizarre things happen during his employment at the hotel.

Bridger took the suite key from the clerk and was told that his luggage would be brought up shortly to their room. He asked them if they wanted to put in their order for lunch. The Captain told him that they would call room service if the need arose.

All five of them made it to the room without getting lost in the huge building. There were so many rooms and too many corridors to count. The Captain opened the huge heavy door and walked into their place of residence for the next week anyway. The room was spectacular. There were expensive curtains draping the windows.

A set of french doors led out onto a private balcony fully furnished with patio table and chairs. There were still more pot plants inside and outside. Somebody in the building belonged to the National Pot Plant Society. They were all very large specimens and flourishing in their pampered environment.

There were two double rooms as requested. One had a double room which would be for Kristin and the Captain. It was no secret about how they felt towards each other.

Sometimes they tried to disguise it. But other times they just let nature take it's course. This was one of those times. Both of them knew that Lucas needed them right now and their own personal reputations was the last thing on their minds.

The other double room had two single beds in it. This would be for Ben and Miguel. Miguel had made fun at Ben's sleeping habits. It was well known that Krieg was a restless sleeper and often snored. Ben only retorted back with the past history of the Cuban. He accused Ortiz of having cut down entire forests at night time.

Without much further ado, Ben and Miguel picked up the sleeping Lucas from the couch were he had been first deposited when they entered the room. They carried their burden into the smaller single bedroom.

It was in between the other two rooms and was well away from windows. The bed was large enough and Lucas was laid down on the soft mattress. Kristin arranged two pillows underneath his blond head.

The teenager had been taken to the hotel without shoes cladding his feet, so the doctor was able to pull the covers over the teenager without risking disturbing him any further. Kristin hoped that Lucas would sleep well into the afternoon.

Once they had their young friend settled as much as possible, the rest of them gathered in the tastefully decorated lounge room to discuss the game plan.

* * *

"What do we do now?" Ben asked honestly. He was pacing the room with his hands dug firmly into his pockets. This whole mess was making him incredibly nervous and he didn't know how to hide it.

"Sit down, Ben," Kristin said gently. "I know you're worried but Lucas will sleep for quite a while yet. This situation is just temporary until we can think of how best to protect Lucas from Sanderson and his father. Until they are both back behind bars, we just have to keep our eyes and ears open all of the time."

"That's why I have to go out this morning, Ben," Bridger added into the conversation. Everyone looked at him with surprise when he mentioned that he would be leaving so soon after getting here. 

"I know what you are all thinking, but after I finally managed to get Lucas settled for a little while last night, I got onto a few contacts at UEO headquarters. I wasn't really sleeping anyway so I started trying to work out what the best solution to this problem is."

"Who have you contacted, Captain?" Ben said with a little uneasiness in his voice. It wasn't that he didn't trust the Captain's motives, but there were plenty of unscrupulous characters out there who would be willing to spill the beans for a few dollars.

They wouldn't care who was involved or who was at risk because of it. "Are you sure we can trust anyone else?" he asked, adding his unspoken thoughts.

"Yes, I have only contacted one person actually," Bridger explained.

"He is an old friend and he is also a lawyer. We have to try and find Sanderson and Lawrence before they come looking for Lucas. If they are securely back behind bars, then we won't have to worry about having to lock him away to protect him. I wanted to leave as soon as possible so that I could be back in time for Lucas to wake up. I should only be gone about two hours."

"During that time, you all will just have to stay here. Don't open the windows unless you have to and definitely don't open the door unless you are certain who it is. If anybody asks, Lucas isn't here. I want to hide the fact that he is being kept here a secret for as long as possible."

Bridger took one more look at Lucas before he left. He was hoping that his theory would be correct and he would be back before the teenager began to stir. He knew that he would bear the brunt of the unhappy young man's words, but as long as Lucas was safe, it was a small price to pay in return.

He gently caressed the boy's blond hair that had fallen over his face. The boy didn't look as though he had moved the whole time they were talking outside. "I'll be back as soon as I can, kiddo," Bridger said to the sleeping youth.

"I won't let them get to you, I promise".

* * *

It was considerably sooner than expected that Lucas began to come out of the fog of the sedative. Bridger had yet to return from UEO headquarters. He had been gone about his estimated two hours plus a half hour more. 

Kristin and the two other crew members in the room were beginning to wonder where Nathan was.

Lucas woke up and knew he must have been asleep for a number of hours. His mind felt fuzzy and was slow to start recalling what had happened. The teenager thought carefully for a minute but nothing came. 

The last thing he remembered was going downstairs and sitting at the breakfast table. This was a great number of hours later he calculated. The other thing he noticed was the room. This wasn't his room. It wasn't the Captain's room either.

He started panic slightly and immediately got up and tried to make it to the door. He felt like he was moving in slow motion. He reached the door knob and made a grab for it. 

Thankfully he reached it and yanked it open. He walked out into the other room trying to calm his breathing down. He was relieved to see his friends seated in the living room. For a moment his mind wandered and wondered if he was already in his enemy's hands.

For the moment it seemed like he was safe enough, but what the hell was he doing here. How did he get here? Where was here?

Kristin, Ben and Miguel had been mildly surprised to see the teenager awake much earlier than they anticipated. The other thing they saw was the panicked expression written across Lucas's face when he came scrambling through the door. It had only briefly occurred to them that he might be scared waking up in a strange place.

Kristin walked over to the teenager and leaned close enough for his blurry vision to see her. "How are you feelingi Lucas?" she asked softly.

"Like I have been asleep for a week," Lucas said honestly. His mind was still trying to focus and put things into perspective. "Where are we and why are we here?"

"Nathan and I thought it best, under the circumstances that home wasn't the best place for you to be right now, Lucas," Kristin answered.

Lucas starred at her for a moment, trying to comprehend what she was telling him. But then the truth about what had happened began to form. The way his body was feeling and how confused he had felt when waking a few minutes ago could only have been caused by less then persuasive methods. 

"So you decide to take me by force without telling me!" Lucas said with a note of anger in his voice. "Did you think to ask me and that I might have come willingly?"

Kristen looked a little stunned at first at the teenager's attitude, "We thought you wouldn't approve of going somewhere off the island, Lucas," The doctor knew she was trying to come up with a valid excuse for drugging the teenager and taking him away from his home.

"You thought!" Lucas said with disgust. He mind was a little clearer now and although he was scared about Sanderson and his father being out there, he was equally pissed off that his family and friends had tried to hide things from him.

"Look, Lucas, we were trying to look out for you as best we could," Ben said trying to ease the tension in the room.

"You!" Lucas said sarcastically, "I thought _YOU_ were supposed to be my friend. Did it even occur to any of you that Sanderson and my father are the real criminals here?"

"They are the ones who should be behind bars. And here I am being dragged off to some secret location while drugged to the eyeballs. It's a wonder I wasn't handcuffed to the bed to go with it."

Without waiting for an further explanation to his new accommodations he walked back into his room and shut the door behind him like the previous night . It resounded with an echo that made the others wince slightly at the young man's obvious displeasure.

Lucas didn't even think to ask where Bridger was. He hadn't been in the other room just now, but he didn't feel like coming to temptation and opening the door again just to see. The teenager wanted them all to feel a little guilt, after what they had done.

He sat back on his bed and put his hands behind his head trying to think about what the next few days might have in store for him. He just hoped that it would only consist of him complaining about his current lodgings.

The youth shuddered to think what attempts Sanderson and his father would make to get to him. And there was no doubt in his mind that they would attempt. He just didn't know what methods they would use. Lucas told himself he just had to be cautious, but his sense of fear was beginning to take over. He just wanted this to be over.  


* * *

After another hour of sitting in the room bored, Lucas decided that he needed a drink. 

Whatever sedative Kristin had used had worn off completely now, but it left a strange after taste and dryness to his mouth. He needed a drink of water. He looked around his room and noticed that there was no water pitcher or sink to speak of. If he wanted a drink he was going to have to make a sacrifice and go back into the other room again.

He realised that his guilt ploy wasn't going to work out as he planned at first. He was going to need to give in a little and communicate with his family friends again. The anger he had felt as them at first was now long gone and he just wanted to be around someone.

The thought of being utterly alone scared him almost as the threat of Sanderson and his father at the moment. He supposed he should be grateful to his friends at least. If he was lone, Sanderson and his father would be able to get to him without any trouble.

Lucas opened the door silently and peeked into the other room, waiting to see if his friends were still willing to talk to him after his outburst. To his surprise he saw that Kristn was asleep on the couch. He walked out and looked into the other opened bedroom and saw that Ben and Miguel were stretched out on their beds asleep as well.

The teenager thought about that drink of water again and decided that this was as good as any opportunity to get something a bit more flavoursome than water. He could sneak out of wherever he was and get a coke and be back before any of the others even noticed he was gone. He still saw no sign of Bridger. He was getting as worried about where the Captain might be.

Without hesitating too much longer, he tiptoed to the front door of the suite and made his way out into the corridor. He closed the main door behind him ever so quietly. He didn't want to incur the wrath of Kristin or his friends if they caught him sneaking out without permission. He would only be a few minutes anyway.

He looked around at his surroundings and saw that he was in a hotel of some description. Wherever it was, it must be costing the Captain a pretty penny because it was very flash. The carpets were plush and the corridors oozed a high room price.

He made it to the front desk and noted there was a little man standing on the other side. The man noticed the teenager and now spoke to him, "Excuse me, son, are you Mr Lucas Wolenczak?"

Lucas was a little apprehensive at talking to this total stranger who knew his name. He walked slowly towards the front reception desk, "Yes, I am Lucas Wolenczak," he answered nervously.

"I have a message for you," the man said casually.

Lucas looked at him for a moment. First this stranger claimed to know his full name without ever meeting him, now he said he had a message for him.

"Who is the message from?" Lucas asked.

"The message was from some Captain fellow," the man replied. 

"Said you would know who he was. He said that he needed you to meet him back at home on the island. Said it was urgent. I hope everything is in order."

"Yes, thank you," Lucas said with a little relief. At least he knew where the Captain said he was. He wondered why Bridger hadn't sent a message up to the room to notify Kristin. But if it was urgent, maybe he didn't have the time to. Lucas just started to wonder what was so urgent. He decided that he had better leave a message himself for the others upstairs.

"Can you give a message to my friends upstairs?" Lucas asked. "Tell them I have gone to see what the Captain wants and will be back shortly." 

Lucas kept it simple. He knew Kristin would have his head for leaving the hotel anyway, but he didn't want to leave his Dad in the lurch. If the Captain said he needed him back at the house, then that's where he would go.

Lucas left through the front doors of the hotel and ordered a cab to take him back towards the mariner and a ferry that would take him back to the island. There were a few services a day, but now it was getting late in the day, he could only hope that he caught the last one for the day in time.

Lucas failed to notice the sly smile the desk clerk gave himself as he saw his task was now complete. He had been given $1000 to coerce the young man into going to a pre-determined destination.

He didn't know who the other two men were, he didn't really care, a thousand dollars was a thousand dollars. He wasn't exactly a millionaire on a bell-hop's wages. Whatever awaited the young man was something between him and the other two men. He didn't give the teenager another thought for some time.

Lucas managed to catch the last ferry by the skin of his teeth. He was breathless by the time he sat down on the rear of the ferry and he got some strange looks from a few other passengers.

While he waited the vessel to make the twenty minute trip his mind began to wander back to the Captain's message. He had been upset with him when he awoke at the hotel and found out that he had been stowed away like come criminal. But now he had time to sit down and decipher it a little, the message from the Captain must have some sort of importance.

If the Captain had really hidden him away in the hotel to protect him, something urgent must have come up. It must be serious enough for Bridger to drag him out of his secret location.

The breeze ruffled his hair and he sat back ready to got back to his house. He might be able to get a few other things his friends forgot too once the problem with the Captain was solved.

They had intended to lock him up for a period of time but nobody thought of any entertainment for him during those long hours of incarceration.

When he disembarked from the ferry, he took the usual route along the beach. There was nobody to greet him on the island and there was no cab company there to hail down to a ride.

He had nothing with him but the clothes he wore. He didn't even have his wallet with him. He had been able to persuade the ferry driver to take a rain check because he used the service so regularly. He had a total of $1.50 in his pocket to buy the coke he didn't get. The path down the beach would take him about half an hour to reach Bridger's island retreat.

He didn't know that this half an hour would turn into the longest thirty minutes of his life.  


* * *

While Lucas was walking back to the house along the beach, two other people were already at the house. One was Paul Sanderson the other Lawrence Wolenczak.

Sanderson walked up to the back door and pulled a switch blade out of his pocket. He fiddled with the lock and heard a distinct click which allowed the door to be opened from the outside.

The two men went into the house and surveyed the area. The Captain wasn't a poor man by any stretch of imagination and his house certainly showed some style. It wasn't Buckingham Palace but Lawrence knew that his worthless son had been living it quite well since their last encounter.

"Are you sure he's going to show up?" Sanderson asked Wolenczak.

"Oh don't worry, he'll show," Lawrence said with an evil grin. 

"You just be ready when he does. You may have been good at your job in the past Sanderson while I was cooling my heels in prison. But if there's one thing I know, that is how my son's mind works. I know his strengths and weaknesses. I know his likes and dislikes. I'll get him here, you just handle the next part."

"You got the number of that hotel they gotten him hidden away in?" Sanderson now asked.

"Yeah, we traipsed around that God Damn city for hours before I finally found the little wretch. I will make him pay for putting me out like that. All that clerk needed was a little monetary incentive and he spilled his guts completely."

"I'll wait until I hear Lucas outside and then I will contact Bridger at the hotel. This is going to be better than Christmas. We both get Lucas for all the misery he had caused us and we make Bridger and the rest of his friends sweat too."

Both men went about setting up their little trap. 

Sanderson pulled out Old Shiela again, but this time the arrow had a different shaped barb on the end of it. It was more like a dart than an arrowhead. It had a hollow tip and contained a clear fluid inside it. It would be enough to knock the teenager out and take him to their intended destination to begin their little game of terror.

Once everything was in place, the two men settled down in Bridger's office with the phone nearby. The trap was set, all they needed was the bait.  


* * *

Kristin awoke from her fitful doze on the couch upstairs in their room. She stretched and yawned for a minute. She hadn't expected to fall asleep but the boredom of the afternoon and the lack of sleep from the previous night had eventually got to her. The couch was very relaxing and comfortable.

She looked around and noted two things. One that Ben and Miguel were sound asleep on their single beds in their own room. Secondly, the door to Lucas's room was wide open and there was no sign of the teenager inside.

"Ben, Miguel!" Kristin shouted with panic laced in her voice. "Where's Lucas?"

Both of them had been startled awake at Kristin's shouting. Ben came wandering out into the living room. "Lucas is in his room, isn't he?" 

He soon saw the source of Kristin's shouting. Lucas's door was wide open and he too could see no sign of the occupant. 

"Where would he go?" Ben questioned with nervousness. He didn't want to have the Captain come back and find that the person they had brought to the hotel to protect was now wandering around somewhere alone.

All three of them could see that the teenager wasn't in the suite anywhere and there hadn't been the topic of rules brought up yet. They hadn't been able to explain to the missing boy that he wasn't supposed to be running around the place on his own. He was supposed to stay put until the all clear was given by Captain Bridger.

Bridger had casually walked through the front door of the lobby of the hotel when he was confronted by three very nervous and worried people near the front reception desk. The desk clerk who had seen Lucas leave was present and the conversation quickly grabbed his attention.

"What's wrong?" Bridger said as he saw the alarm written over Kristin's face.

Kristin didn't know how else to tell him other than straight out, "Lucas is gone!"

"He's _WHAT_?" Bridger now yelled back. He was not angry at Kristin but he was now worried like them all that Lucas was wondering around alone in strange surroundings. The boy had been sleeping when brought into the hotel and he probably didn't even know where he was when he walked out onto the street.

Bridger quickly started to think and was organizing Ben to call the rest of the SeaQuest crew and have them split up into smaller search parties. They had to find him and they had to find him quick. Bridger had been a little longer than first anticipated, but he had not expected that the teenager would bolt as soon as he woke up.

Kristin proceeded to explain to Nathan the details of what had taken place earlier on the teenager first waking up. She told him about the angry words Lucas shouted and his attitude to the whole thing of keeping things a secret from him.

Bridger was now punishing himself inside at hearing this information. He knew that he didn't want to leave the teenager here this morning before he woke up. But he thought he was doing his best to protect him. He was just hoping and praying that they could find the boy quickly enough for him to explain the reasons for their unorthodox security methods.

The desk clerk now felt a little remorse at his role in the whole scheme. He coughed a little and tried to gain the attention the people in front of him. 

"Are you people looking for a blond teenager that was here earlier?". The man's statement certainly got their attention alright.

"Have you seen him?" Bridger asked politely at first. He was desperate to find him. God knows how much time had lapsed between when Lucas left and now.

"Yeah, he left a message here a little while ago before he went out," the man said calmly.

"What was that message?" Kristin asked in a calm, but low tone of voice. Everyone else but the desk clerk recognized the tone as an imminent sign that the good doctor was about to unleash her fury.

"He got a message from some Captain Bridger fellow...," but before the man could continue Bridger butted in.

"I am Captain Bridger," Nathan shouted. "I didn't leave him any message."

The current situation had all the ingredients that had Bridger's stomach twisting in knots of fear that something had happened to Lucas.

The man ignored Bridger's ranting, "The message was that the young man was to meet some named Captain Bridger at his house on some island. He said it was urgent."

"The kid seemed to believe it enough. He told me to tell the other people upstairs that's where he was and he would be back shortly."

"Oh Nathan," Kristin said with fear in her voice, "That message wasn't from you. It was from Sanderson or Lawrence!"

The desk clerk's ears pricked up at the sound of that name. The two men hadn't introduced themselves in person when they made the offer for assistance. 

The man decided he better ask the question to douse his curiosity, "That's the name of the young man isn't it?"

All four people now looked at the desk clerk and wondered how he knew Lucas's name. The man took a step back from the counter at the look of their faces. He was a little scared himself now.

"I think this man knows a little more than he is admitting," Ben said with a snarl and grabbed the nervous little clerk by the front of his lapels. "What do you know about this, you little weasel?"

The man was scared of these people now. He had just wanted to make a few extra dollars but he decided he better tell them what he knew, "I didn't know they were going to do anything bad to the kid, honest!"

"Who are they?" Bridger asked but he was afraid he already knew the answer as did they all.

"Two men came in here about lunch time asking if anybody new had registered here this morning," the clerk began to explain.

"Are you supposed to keep information like that confidential?" Ben hissed at the man.

"Not when they are offering $1000.00 hard cold cash," the man snarled back.

It was about this time that Ben lost his patience with the clerk. He was angry that somebody would just sell out Lucas's whereabouts for money. Sure Lawrence Wolenczak had money, plenty of it, but he had never shed a single damn dime on the person who should mean the most to him. Instead he spent it trying to make the teenager's life miserable.

Ben released one of his hands and without warning punched the man in the stomach. The man doubled over but Krieg jerk back his hair to make him stand erect again. Ben looked about and thought that the Captain or Kristin would chew him out over that little error in judgement.

Instead he was surprised when Bridger himself grabbed the man by his coat so that their gazes met. The man didn't like the cold hard stare that either person was giving him.

"You had better hope nothing has happened to him," Kristin warned. "I am a doctor and I can think of a few painful procedures to perform on you if need be."

Bridger's approach was a little more direct, "If he has been put in danger because of you, I will come back and find the biggest pole I can find and make you into an instant totem pole. Understand?"

The manager of the hotel now appeared and demanded what was going on in his hotel lobby. When he heard the sorted details of what had happened to Lucas and that his own employee was involved, the manager offered to make the hotel a command central base for the search operation to commence from.

"Make sure this guy finds the proper authorities, will you," Bridger said to the manager. "I may want to talk to him later if we can't find Lucas in a hurry." 

The clerk took a large swallow at this statement.

The manager swore that the man would be held by the police for as long as possible. He was certain that a long list of charges would soon be laid against the man. He could be the accessory to kidnapping, assault and battery and/or murder.

Bridger and the rest of the crew didn't want to dwell on the last one too much.

* * *

The Captain and Krieg now spent the best part of half of hour organizing for Commander Jonathan Ford to get a search part underway. He explained over his PAL what had happened and the Commander promised to have as many volunteers as possible ready in an hour. He also promised extra back up staff to man radios and walkie talkies back at the hotel.

While the everybody was trying to organize the search, the main telephone at reception rang. Bridger and the others heard it but paid no attention to it at first. They let the manager answer it.

The manager now tried to get their attention ,"Um Captain Bridger, Sir?" he said as he stumbled on his words, "It's for you."

"For me?" Bridger said. A little piece of him wanted to believe that it was Lucas trying to contact him. No such luck.

"The caller won't identify himself. Just says that he wants to talk to Captain Nathan Hale Bridger of the SeaQuest," the manager said repeating the caller's request.

Bridger's heart almost stopped and he nervously put his hand out to take the receiver from the manager. "Hello?" he stammered. He was listening for a response from the other end.

Whilst everyone was organizing to search for him, Lucas Wolenczak was walking along the beach that lead to the front of his house.

He could see the house now and when he reached the front verandah he looked in the usual hiding place for the spare key. The teenager put the key in and turned the door handle. He heard the lock release and went to walk in. So far nothing out of the ordinary had aroused his suspicions that somebody else was in the house.

Back at the hotel, the voice on the other end of the telephone with Bridger finally made a response, "Good Evening, Captain Bridger," the caller greeted him.

Kristin and the others had been listening in on an extension phone and whilst the voice didn't seem to disturb the manager of the hotel, but everyone else involved felt the blood drain from their faces at the recognition of that voice. 

It was unmistakable. It was the voice of Lawrence Wolenczak.

Bridger felt himself gather all of his anger and hurl it towards the other end of the phone. "What have you done with him you _BASTARD_?" he yelled. His face was now bright red from his anger. The cords on his neck were standing out as he strained the tendons in his neck.

"Done with who?" Lawrence threw back. His voice oozed calmness and casualness. Wolenczak knew exactly who the Captain was talking about.

"Don't pretend to play games with me Wolenczak! If you have so much as touched one hair on his head, I _promise_ you a slow and painful death!"

Bridger was beyond being polite and politically correct. The UEO could fire him anytime they wanted if they felt he was out of line talking like this. He wasn't about to take the soft approach where Lucas was concerned.

"You surprise me, Captain. Accusations without the proper proof. Tsk Tsk. But don't worry, I haven't touched that worthless son on mine yet. My part was to get him here. After that I will let my esteemed associate Mr Sanderson take over the finer details of what's to happen to Lucas," Lawrence responded.

"Where exactly are you?" Bridger demanded.

"Why I am at your place, Captain," Wolenczak said hoping to get the horrified reaction from the man he was expecting. "After all this is where you told the boy to come."

Bridger felt his legs turn to putty. He had heard the clerk mention that the message to Lucas had told the teenager to meet him at the house on the island. There wouldn't be enough time to get there now before Lucas did to warn him. He had failed again to protect the one he loved most.

"I'm just going to switch the phone to speaker, Captain," Lawrence commended casually.

"I thought you might want to be hear from Lucas when he comes home. He's just turned up outside."

The phone made a strange static sound and now everyone in the hotel lobby could hear what was going on without listening to the extension phone.

They couldn't hear anything at first except silence. Then just as they thought Lucas might have noticed something out of the ordinary, they heard the teenager's voice in the hallway.

"Captain?" Lucas said as he walked through house looking for Bridger. 

The office that Sanderson and Wolenczak was upstairs and at the end of the hall, so it would the last place Lucas would check. "Captain are you here?" the teenager called out again.

'NO LUCAS," Bridger tried shouting through the speaker so the teenager would be warned in time. 

But he only managed to get those two words through before Wolenczak placed his hand over the speaker part of the phone. Any other messages the Captain was trying to yell in order to forewarn the boy was muffled by his hand.

Lucas stopped in his tracks for a moment. He thought he had heard Bridger's voice upstairs.

He climbed the stairs and started towards down the corridor. The teenager failed to notice a third person walk stealthily behind him in the shadows. Lucas looked in Bridger's bedroom and then headed towards the office. 

"Captain are you... here?" he managed to say before stepping through the door. 

The young man's voice faultered and he wouldn't have been able to say anything else anyway. His voice was completely lost to his fear when he saw who was really sitting at the Captain's desk. It was his real father Lawrence Wolenczak.

* * *

The door closed behind him and he now saw that not only was his father in the room, but so was Paul Sanderson. He was trapped in the room with the two people he feared most.

The fear was great too. He could feel himself shaking but he couldn't do anything about it. How was he going to get away? His mind failed to come up with a solution. Too many bad memories were haunting him at the moment.

Lawrence removed his hand from the speaker now and resumed his conversation, "So glad you could join us, _SON_," he tried to emphasis the word 'son' just for Bridger. He could see the boy's pale face and trembling hands. He knew that he instilled fear into his worthless offspring.

It was this control factor over the boy that he constantly craved. Lawrence felt that if he had control over somebody as weak as Lucas, then he could control most situations. A super smart kid his son might be, but when it came down to it, he was just as afraid as anybody else.

"I believe you have met our other visitors here," Wolenczak said to Lucas as he gestured towards Sanderson. 

Lucas saw the door open again and in walked Sanderson's sidekick Campbell. This just kept getting better and better Lucas told himself.

"What do you want, Sanderson?" Lucas spat at the man as he tried to hide his fear through arrogance.

"Why me and old Sheila here have a score to settle with you boy?" Sanderson said as he now showed the menacing looking cross bow that Lucas had encountered before.

Lucas vividly remembered the pain that the weapon had inflicted upon him. His body still reminded him of it everyday even a few of weeks down the track. Just like the scar on his leg and the hole in his chest from the bullet. All souvenirs of their previous meetings.

His father was still good at inflicting injury too. Those sharp reminders just took longer to fade as they were normally in the form of unseen cracked or broken ribs and bruises that were all colours of the rainbow. It was this type of injuries he had learned to cope with in silence over the years no matter how bad the pain might have become at times.

"Lucas," Bridger shouted through the speaker. The teenager looked surprised at the phone and at the sound of the Captain's voice.

"Captain! Help me _PLEASE!_," Lucas screamed back. 

He tried to reach the speaker phone to get closer to it but he soon found him self restrained by Campbell. The man was much bigger and strong and he pinned the youth's arms behind his back to stop his advancement.

"CAPPTTAAINNNN," Lucas tried to scream through the phone. He was afraid. More afraid now than he had been since his last encounter with Sanderson. 

The teenager knew that these people meant him harm, both physical and mental. But he also knew that they didn't intend for it to be quick. Both would torture him mentally and emotionally until he was at breaking point and then they would start again.

Lucas saw Sanderson raise the cross bow and aim it at his chest. For a moment he thought they were going to kill him right here and now in Bridger's own home. But something made him notice the different point to the arrowhead. He could see the shimmer from the liquid inside.

This only made his fear grow. Lawrence did intend to drag out his suffering. And with him unconscious and unable to defend himself, Lucas knew that they would be able to take him to some unknown destination where there was no hope of somebody coming to help him.

Bridger didn't know what was going on in the room, but the next sentence from Lucas made his blood stop dead in this veins.

"Captain, come find me and help me _PLEASE_!

"They are going to hurt me all over _AGAIN_!"

"I can't do this again, _PLEASE_ come and find me," Lucas begged.

Before he could say anything further he felt the dart from the cross bow hit him in the centre of his chest. 

The sedative was quick acting like the one yesterday and it didn't take long for Lucas to surrender due to the effects. Campbell let the boy's body fall to the floor and all three in the room could be heard laughing at the boy's pleas for help.

"Don't worry Captain, you will be in contact with him, when I choose to allow it," Wolenczak informed Bridger. You won't be able to communicate with my wretched excuse for a son, but you will be able to hear his screams!"  


* * *

With this Wolenczak ended the conversation and terminated the telephone call with the hotel. Lawrence walked over to his son's body and placed a small device on the teenager's shirt. 

What appeared to be like a badge or token of some description., was actually a miniature camera and microphone.

Yes, indeed the Captain and his friends would be able to see and hear everything. That was the whole point to this exercise. A new game was about to begin and it was going to test Lucas to the limit.

Bridger, Kristin and the others were still trying to comprehend what they had just heard. They had heard Lucas screaming for them to come and find him . He was begging somebody to help him. And the ones that loved him the most were too far away to help.

A police officer who had been helping with the search for the missing teenager now stepped forward towards the senior crew. He held a small rectangular shaped box in his hands. It was address to Captain Bridger of the SeaQuest.

"Um, Captain Bridger Sir!" the man said nervously. "This package just arrived, its addressed to you. There is no other identification on it to say who it is from."

Captain Bridger looked at the package with the same fear that had grabbed him with the telephone call from Lawrence. He didn't need to see a return address. Somehow he knew who it was from.

Bridger took it from the officer and dismissed him. He looked at the others before he opened the cardboard box. He didn't know how much more of a hammering his heart or mind could take at the moment. The fact that Lucas was missing was enough to render him irrational.

The thought of Lucas being in the hands of Lawrence Wolenczak and Paul Sanderson nearly drove him off the edge completely. For the moment he had to swallow his feelings as best he could. If he was going to be any help to the teenager at all, he had to be the impregnable tower of strength that everyone thought him to be.

Kristin put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but her own face could not hide the naked fear that they all felt for Lucas. What abominable acts did these people have in mind for their young friend. 

Could Lucas survive another assault on his already tortured mind? He had come through some amazing feats already, but somehow they knew that this test left all others dead in the water. The other encounters Lucas had in the past paled in comparison.

Ben Krieg just looked sickly. He couldn't hide his feelings at the best times and today was no exception. He truly feared for Lucas. He wanted to do anything he could to get his friend back. If that meant giving his own life, then so be it.

Without awaiting another further ado, Bridger opened the box. Everyone had expected it to be something horrible like a missing body part, a finger maybe or a lock of blood stained blond hair.

What they found almost made them all break out into hysterics. It looked like an ordinary harmless token badge that one could get at any corner store or amusement parlour. It was a sky blue in colour and circular in shape. It really did just look like a badge. Something Lucas would probably get a kick out of and wear around in support of some off the wall society.

Underneath the blue was a patch of white. When Bridger took a closer look, he could see that it was a hand written message. Obviously the answer to all of their questions.

The Captain lifted the piece of paper out and placed the box containing the badge aside for the moment. It was taking all of his control to slowly open the folded piece of paper and read the contents to those around him. It began something like this:

**_Do you want to know where he is Captain?_**

**_For a moment Bridger couldn't get his eyes to read past this first sentence. He read it out loud to the others at first and then over and over in his own mind._**

**_This little device looks simple enough. It was designed by somebody we both know. It will allow you to see everything he sees and hear everything he hears._**

**_Only catch is that it was only designed to work aboard the SeaQuest._**

**_Something he said about it being designed to work underwater somehow on a dolphin. It was supposed to be a surprise for you. And it will be I assure you!_**

**_The instructions to install it into your main frame computer are on the reverse side of this letter.  
_**

**_Sit back and enjoy the show. I know we will.  
_**

**_Don't worry - You can hear him - but he cannot hear you.  
_**

**_You can try all you want but you won't find him.  
_**

**_HURRY OR YOU'LL MISS THE OPENING ACT._**

The letter was unsigned but the author was known to all. Bridger didn't need a return address to know who the letter was from. He remained silent but he could not halt the steady rise in anger that was brewing within him. 

Paul Sanderson and Lawrence Wolenczak would pay dearly if they hurt Lucas. He had never been willing to kill another human being before in his life, but if it was God's will.

If Wolenczak and Sanderson were destined to pay the ultimate price for their evil deeds, then Bridger would be there to carry out the request. If it meant that Bridger had to sacrifice his own freedom in order to save Lucas's life then so be it. He would carry out the hideous crime asked of him and then accept his punishment willingly and without protest.

Ben Krieg however was not so silent about his feelings. He had couldn't believe the words he had just heard read. "Those sick Bastards, Captain!" Ben shouted with clenched fists.

"They are going to pay, Captain," Ben had never been the heroic type, far from it. But when it came to Lucas, all bets were off. He couldn't describe the bitterness and hate that he felt towards Sanderson and Wolenczak Senior right now.

Krieg looked across at Miguel, his Cuban friend and he saw the same dark expression of hate written across his face. There were words in Spanish that described men like Wolenczak and Sanderson.

They were used to frightened children on nights when they wouldn't behave. His grandmother had told him a number of horrible tales using the words to describe evil acts and despicable people. The word that came to mind was_CATAHORA_.

Bridger pulled himself out of his stupor and looked at the badge for a minute. He looked at the people around him and saw their expressions of hopelessness and worry for Lucas.

"It might just be the key we have been looking for," he said with a ray of hope in his voice. He saw the instant puzzlement on everyone's face.

"If this is a receiver and camera just like Wolenczak says, then maybe we can use it to see familiar landmarks and work out where they have Lucas. At the moment we don't have any idea of where he is being held. They may have just given us a clue that we so desperately need."

Without waiting any further he paged Commander Jonathan Ford using his PAL communicator. He quickly described the gadget Lucas had been working on and its potential usefulness in tracking were his kidnappers had him hidden.

"The command centre for this search just changed venues," Bridger said with determination in his voice that took no arguments. Everyone nodded their heads and started heading upstairs to grab their gear and head back to the SeaQuest.

Bridger stayed downstairs and informed the Police Chief and the other support people about what was happening. He instructed were he could be reached if necessary, but he also wanted the ground search he organized to continue regardless.

This new theory was by no means fool proof and they needed a back up plan just in case. He wanted to leave nothing to chance and wanted as many people as possible out there looking for Lucas. He gave the Police Captain a small recent colour photograph of the teenager and instructed it to be copied as many times as necessary and distributed to the search parties.

He held it just a moment and had to smile at the cheeky grin on the teenager's face. It was a grin of much happier times. Bridger just hoped and prayed that there would be such joy again. He handed the photo over and left when the rest of the crew was ready.  


* * *

Lawrence Wolenczak and Paul Sanderson travelled in a hired four wheel drive vehicle to their destination. It was late afternoon and it look as though the sky was going to give birth to a tropical storm. The sky was menacingly dark and flashed it's anger in bolts of lightening that tore the rain clouds apart with a thundering crack.

In the back of the vehicle, Lucas was still unconscious to the drug Sanderson had used. He hadn't stirred in almost three hours. His hands were tied together and his feet were shackled in irons link together by a chain. The chain was quite long, some two feet in length, but it would be enough to slow the young man up if he decided to suddenly take flight in a hurry.

Sanderson was keeping a close eye on the road ahead. The sky was still darkening and rain was imminent. The vehicle stopped on top of a high rocky outcrop that overlooked the swirling sea below. Both of the men got out from the vehicle and Campbell got out from the rear seat. He had been seated next to the teenager just in case he had awoken during their journey.

"Drag him out here," Lawrence snapped to Campbell. The man nodded his head, signalling his co-operation in the matter. He reached in and grabbed a hold of the bound teenager and dumped him unceremoniously on the damp grass beside the car.

Sanderson took a few small steps forward towards the edge of the outcrop, trying to survey the first of Lucas's challenges. He smirked when he saw the tremendous descent and rocky ledges that were below. He looked back at the teenager who was oblivious to his fate and wished that he was awake to see what awaited him.

Lawrence and Sanderson had gone to great lengths to work out their plan for Lucas. They had put their devious minds together and came up with a series of challenges that would leave the teenager shaking and quivering with fear. Just the way they liked it.

As the lightening continued overhead, Campbell was able to see some of the damage Lawrence had already inflicted upon his son. Lucas's father had given the unconscious boy couple of healthy kicks to the rib area and a few punches to his face. But Lucas was in no condition to fight back or defend himself.

The abuse stopped as quickly as it had started. Having a victim that wasn't doing his usual cowering in the corner and pleading to be left alone just wasn't the same. It wasn't as much fun when your toy just laid there and took the punishment you dished out.

There was a deepening purple bruise on his left cheek and Campbell was sure that there would be matching ones on the boy's rib cage under his clothes. He was glad it wasn't him. He didn't feel any great sympathy for the teenager, but he was sure glad he wasn't on the receiving end of those kicks and punches. The kid might not have felt them when they first happened, but there was no doubt he would feel them when he awoke.

Campbell went to the back of the vehicle and started to strap on an rock climbing apparatus. He had on heavy footwear and thick clothing against the abrasiveness of the cliff face.

When fully ready he told his employer's that he was ready for the next part of their plan.

"Okay, you know what to do," Lawrence said. 

"Take him down to that ledge and leave him there. Be sure to untie his hands before you come back up. Leave his legs shackled in the irons though. Make sure that the camera device is secured properly."

"When your back on top, you can stay in that camper van we have left down the hill. It's in a position that will enable us to see him go past once he makes it up the cliff. If he makes it up the cliff," Sanderson now said and laughed heartily at his plans for the teenager.

"I just wish I could see Bridger's face when he sees where the boy is," Lawrence said as he joined in the jovial laugh with Sanderson.

Campbell lifted the boy up and lifted him over his shoulder. He had done this on a few occasions now and was used to the added weight of the teenager. He had secured some heavy duty rope to the bumper bar of the car and now descended carefully and slowly.

There were a number of ledges that he could have chosen once he reached the required distance. He looked around and spotted a ledge that was a little wider than the rest.

It was about 25 feet from the top and would be well hidden from anybody looking from above. There were enough hand and foot handles in the rock of the cliff that the boy could use to climb back up. He would have to chimney his way up without the use of rope, but it certainly wasn't beyond his physical capabilities.

His mental condition on the other hand would be a total different matter and he would need to overcome his fear before attempting the arduous ascent to the top.

The teenager made a few mumbles and groans in his drugged induced sleep as he was laid upon the hard rocky surface of the ledge. Campbell untied his hands as instructed but left the leg irons.

They wouldn't restrict his movements as far as climbing was concerned. The steps the boy would have to make would only be small at the most. Certainly within the two feet limit he was restricted to.

Campbell made the climb back to the top and awaited at the predetermined hide out. When he got to the camper van, he could see Lawrence and Sanderson leaning over a portable radio receiver listening for the boy's return to consciousness.  


* * *

Back on board the SeaQuest, Bridger had the senior crew report to the Ward Room. Most of the boat was deserted due to people looking for Lucas. The door to the room was locked only the nominated people would be allowed access. The people included were Bridger, Westphalen, Krieg, Ortiz, O'Neill, Crocker, Hitchcock and Ford.

Once all seated inside, Ortiz went about reading the instructions for the receiver and loaded the correct codes into the main frame computer. Bridger flicked the switch and a image began to form on the video screen.

Most of the people in the room didn't know if they were prepared enough to see this, but for Lucas's sake they needed to try. They would look for any familiar landmarks in the background and maybe come up with the teenager's mystery location.

It was about this time that both the crew aboard the SeaQuest and Lawrence and Sanderson in the camper van could hear faint groans coming from the teenager. He was beginning to wake up and the deadly game was about to commence.

The first thing that struck Lucas was the cool wind that buffeted him from the approaching storm. He could feel the hands of the breeze teasing his cheeks and ruffling his blond hair with the fingers of wakefulness.

He tried to remember where he was and what had happened. It didn't all come back at once. He mind was very fuzzy. Fortunately due to his precarious position on the ledge that was probably a good thing.

Bridger and the SeaQuest crew could see the teenager. They could see that he was laying down somewhere. The only problem was that the little camera Lucas designed was intended to be close range only. The images that appeared on the screen gave no defined background to analyse for landmarks. They would just have to wait and use their patience and see if the image improved.

The receiver pinned to Lucas's shirt suddenly came to life, "Welcome back, Lucas," came the voice. 

At first it sounded strange and a long way off. The crew on board SeaQuest could also hear the voice.

Something in the back of Lucas's addled mind clicked and he realized that it was his father Lawrence Wolenczak talking to him. The recognition also triggered the events from earlier in the day.

The images of him going to Bridger's house on the island and being trapped inside the house with Sanderson and Lawrence. He remembered the cross bow in Sanderson's hands and the dart that entered his chest. He had the answer to why his body felt so heavy.

What he didn't have answers for is the pain that stabbed his rib area and his face. He felt his cheek and winced at the pain that came from the ugly bruise. He put a hand on his torso and felt the dull ache coming from his ribs. It didn't take his genius mind to work out that his father had given him the usual warm welcome that he received every time they met.

"You're finally awake again," Lawrence said with disgust.

Something in Lucas's mind told him that the voice was coming from a long way away so the teenager hurled back a response that he wouldn't have dared uttered if he was in Lawrence's immediate vicinity. 

"Go to Hell," and his ribs flared into life for his trouble. He attempted to sit up slightly and was again rewarded by short bursts of pain from his damaged and bruised ribs.

"Good to see you in such great spirit, Lucas," Lawrence said as he ignored his son's latest outburst. "Let's hope you keep up that kind of spunk for the rest of the game.

_GAME_ was the word that echoed in Lucas's mind. Last time he had played a _'game'_ involving Sanderson, he had ended up in hospital for the best part of a week with a hole in his shoulder and places that hurt that he had never discovered before.

Lawrence seemed to sense his son's thoughts and answered, "Yes Lucas, Mr Sanderson and I have devised a little game of challenge for you. You see we thought you might have been slacking off aboard that boat were you are hand fed all of the time. We thought it was time to toughen you up again."

Bridger had his head in his hands as he heard Lawrence talking to Lucas. It was almost too much to bare. He kept reminding himself that he needed to be strong for Lucas.

Lawrence completely changed the topic of discussion now, "Lucas, tell me what are your three worst fears? Be honest now."

Lucas for the first time since waking up forget about the pain he was in and thought about the question directed at him. His hands began to shake. He knew that there would be nobody else in the world that would know his fears like his father Lawrence. There were some fears that he had kept secret from everyone, even Bridger and Kristin.

"Have you noticed your surroundings yet, Lucas?" Lawrence asked with a great deal of anticipation. He knew the boy hadn't or he would have heard him before now.

Bridger and the rest of the crew now waited as well. Bridger tried to rack his brain thinking about all of the fears Lucas had told him about. He looked about from face to face in the room looking for the answer. Some of them knew of one or two of Lucas's fears, but they didn't know what Wolenczak was driving out.

Lucas finally got himself into a sitting position with his back leaning again the jaggered rocks of the cliff face. He looked about him. The ground seemed solid enough. It seemed to support his weight enough. It wasn't until a mighty flash of lightening lit up the sky that he realized where he was.

Bridger and the crew had heard Lucas scream before. He had woken up from nightmares before screaming and they had heard him screaming under the hands of Sanderson, but nothing could prepare them for the sound that escape Lucas's mouth now.

Lucas saw his position up on the ledge and screamed for all he was worth. Due to the canyon like effect the rocks gave, the teenager heard his own animalistic scream being hurled right back at him from below.

He was glad he was sitting down because he couldn't move his paralysed body due to the immense fear he felt. _HEIGHTS_ seemed to be word that came to his brain.

Bridger and the others knew that heights were one of Lucas's fears. There had been an incident aboard SeaQuest where Lucas found himself only 10 metres off the ground and he had almost hyperventilated back then. The camera was able to give the viewers a clearer picture of Lucas's torment.

Lucas squeezed his eyes shut tight. He couldn't open his eyes for fear of looking down. If he looked down he knew that he would be worse. It was the one thing that was told to people with a fear of heights. Don't look down.

Bridger and the others could see from the brief flashes of lightening that Lucas was perched up on a high ledge. The cliff face around him was some 400 feet from the sea floor. They could also see the leg irons around Lucas's ankles and the bruise that marred his face. They knew that Lawrence had already begun dishing out a little payback on the teenager.

"Your task, Lucas," Sanderson now said, "Is to climb to the top. It's only about 25 feet so you won't need any rope. If you make it to the top, you will have finished one third of the challenge. Don't worry we will be waiting at the top for you,"

_'25 Feet'_ Lucas thought. For him it might as well have been 25 kilometres. On his own with his fear of heights so great, he would be flat out putting two steps together.

Now they were asking him to climb 25 feet up a rocky cliff with no rope and no security line. He also had no doubt that his father and Sanderson would be waiting at the top too. Waiting to take him to his need deadly encounter if he didn't fall of the cliff first.

Lucas's mind was starting to become fuzzy again from the power of his fear and the residual effects of the sedative in his system. His eyes were already closed. His hands were shaking from his fear and the cold. To add to his torture, the rain clouds overhead opened up and the rain started soaking him to the skin. His hair was plastered in damp clumps over his forehead and dripped in his face.

How was he ever going to master this. His body gave in to the drug and he fell into a uneasy doze leaning up against the rocks.

Kristin turned her head away from the scene before her. She couldn't watch anymore of Lucas's torment. She could see that the boy was battered and bruised. He was sitting in the pouring rain getting drenched and shivering from the cold air. His body was shaking from his fear and he looked so alone. How were they going to help him?

The rest of the crew was stony silent. They could not find the words to say to comfort either themselves or the Captain. It was now that Bridger realised that the camera was designed not only to torture Lucas in this sick and twisted game. It was also designed to torment them as his friends and family too. The very people Lucas was depending on to help him.  


* * *

It was the dawning sun beaming down on his face that first awoke Lucas the next morning.

The crew aboard the SeaQuest had tried in vain to try and see something by the camera that would give them a clue to Lucas's whereabouts. But nothing had come. It had been too dark to see any background landmarks. They were all exhausted out of fear and worry for Lucas and eventually fell into a restless sleep themselves in the Ward Room.

It wasn't the morning sun that awoke them. They were all jolted out of their dreams by the terrified scream that Lucas emitted once he eyes grew accustomed to the bright sunlight.

He had opened his eyes slowly at first and tried to gauge the damage to his body before trying to move too much. His head did not ache, but his ribs protested as loudly as the night before. It wasn't until he gained his full senses that he truly gained an appreciation for his current surroundings. If he was scared last night, the fear that ran through him now was utterly paralysing.

Lucas could now see just how high up he was and how small the ledge he was perched on really was. He tried to shrink backwards into the rockface behind him even more to get away from the edge. It was only now that he let out the scream that awoke the crew aboard the SeaQuest.

Lawrence Wolenczak decided to greet his son for the first time today over the two way radio that was still attached to Lucas.

"I see you have survived the night," Lawrence said in mockery. "Oh well, maybe you might just come through this after all. We will have to wait and see. You have to make it up the cliff face yet."

Make it up the cliff face Lucas said to himself. His brain was describing every detail in full about his rocky abode. The cliff was approximately 400 feet high. But then it was difficult to make a real accurate estimation. The cliffs tapered in towards the bottom to give the effect that they went on forever.

The rocks themselves were constructed out of a porous limestone composition. The colour of the rock was a dirty brown colour. The cliffs tapered narrowly to the jaggered rocks below.

Once the rocks merged with the bottom, they were pounded by the endless surf. One step in the wrong direction and Lucas saw himself being splattered all over the sharp stones below. Whatever was left of him would be washed away by the white foam of the sea.

Bridger and the crew were also frozen in their positions. They couldn't see how Lucas was going to overcome such an obstacle. Hell half of them couldn't have handled being out on that ledge.

Here Lucas was, half beaten, tired and exhausted, with chains around his ankles and he was expected to climb to the top without the aid of any ropes or equipment. The fear they all held for Lucas's life was great.

"You know what they call this place, Lucas," Lawrence informed the boy. Before waiting for a reply from the teenager he gave his own answer.

The first people here called it **_JUVA DE A INSANIUSAM_** or **EDGE OF INSANITY**.

"Appropriately named don't you think?" Lawrence said with a hearty chuckle.

"Some people say that the cliff face looks like the side of God's face. For they say if you fall, you will surely meet him."

Back on board the SeaQuest, Bridger went to turn around to language expert Lieutenant Tim O'Neill and get him to look up the Latin name Lawrence had just said.

O'Neill however was already typing away as fast as he could on the console within the room, "Already on it Sir," he said without looking up at the Captain. When the system came back to him he had some disappointing news for all of them.

"Sorry Sir, I looked under every Latin derivative I could think of. I looked under **_EDGE of INSANITY_**. I even tried a few variations to the name. Nothing has come back that could give us a firm fix on Lucas's position. The place isn't even listed on any atlas."

"Thank you Tim. I'm sure you did your best," Bridger said. He was beginning to think that Lawrence had tied up all of the loose ends. Had he made his plans so carefully and accurately that they were indeed unable to help their young friend.

The rest of the crew's spirits dipped when they heard that they were still at a loss for Lucas's whereabouts.  


* * *

Lucas however, was thinking hard. He had the beginnings of a cold or flu from the rain the night before. He had a slight dull ache of a headache and his breathing was hampered firstly from a blocked nose and secondly from the small tickles he began to feel inside his lungs each time he took a small breath.

As he looked more about his surroundings and thought more about the man or men who had put him in his current position. He could feel his blood pressure start to rise. He was starting to feel a little ticked off that he was always the one to get picked on by his father and Sanderson.

"I'm not going to let you win this time," Lucas said. The first time he said it, it was almost a whisper and everyone including Lawrence had to listen the second time to make sure what they heard was correct.

Lucas now still to his full height against the cliff face. He still had his back pressed firmly against the limestone formation, but he had a look upon his face of determination.

"I SAID, " and he spoke louder towards the small badge pinned on his shirt. "I am not going to let you win this time, _YOU BASTARD. _I am going to beat you and this cliff!"

Lawrence just laughed through the radio at his son's tough words.

The people on board the SeaQuest did exactly the opposite and began chanting words of encouragement as loud as they could at the teenager. They know that Lucas couldn't hear them, but they hoped that somehow there messages of support would get him through his torture.

Lucas now took a small and very shaky foot forwards, away from the cliff face. He closed his eyes against the threatening feeling of vertigo that he sensed at he looked at the waves below. He waited for the feeling to subside and then he turned around and faced his challenge. He took a large swallow as he looked at the distance he would need to climb in order to reach the top.

Before he could change his mind and before his fear cause him any more anguish, he placed one hand on a rock just above his head. He placed a second hand on a rock a little further down and to the right of him.

He waited until his hands stopped shaking and tried to put one foot on a small instep in the rock near the bottom of the ledge. He looked at the chains that connected the irons around his legs. He just hoped that the links were small enough not to get caught on any of the small rocks on the way up.

The teenager took a deep breath and let it out again. The fear was still there and he didn't know how long he could keep up the tough appearances, but he had to try. He couldn't let his father or Sanderson win this time.

He took a second deep breath and before he could let it out again he pulled his body off the ground and held firmly onto his hand holds. He knew that once he got going he couldn't afford to stop. Even one glance towards that rocky shore would put his concentration off and could cause him to fall to a watery grave below.

Bridger and the others collectively held their own breaths as they watched Lucas take his first unsteady step up the cliff face. Then Lucas did something that completely baffled them.

Lawrence Wolenczak could also hear his son saying something to himself. He just didn't know what to make of it.

"Joshua Levine!"

Joshua Levine, Bridger thought, that was the name of one of the crew members aboard the SeaQuest. He wasn't present with them in the Ward Room but he a regular crew member.

"Security Chief Crocker!" came the next name out of the boy's mouth.

Lawrence was completely fooled by the boy's plot. Bridger however worked out exactly what he was doing.

The boy was using the names of his friends and fellow crew members aboard the SeaQuest as he made his way up the cliff. He was using them to give him the strength and confidence he needed to go on.

Bridger explained to the others what Lucas was doing by saying their names out loud. All of them continued the encouragement they had been giving before. They increased it's intensity and were almost shouting at the Vid Screen to the teenager on the cliff.

Lucas continued to say the names of the SeaQuest crew out loud. With each name and each shaky step he did gain confidence. Maybe not enough to conquer his fear entirely, but it was working enough for him to be able to scale the cliff face.

About a third of the way up though his right foot slipped for a minute and he nearly toppled back to the ledge below. He squeezed his eyes tight and tried to calm his nerves bit. There was nowhere else to go. He either had to go up or down.

Bridger and Kristin had closed their own eyes when they saw Lucas's stumble on the cliff. They didn't want to see what they thought would happen. When it appeared that Lucas was safe enough, Ben had told them that Lucas was okay and they could open their eyes again.

Bridger had never felt more afraid in a single moment in his entire life than when he felt it watching Lucas's perilous ascent.

Lucas had managed to hurt his ankle a little and some of his knuckles got the skin rubbed off them from the abrasiveness of the limestone. But other than that he was alright.

When he had regained some composure, he started the small steps again and reciting the names as well.

He was saving his closest friends and family members for the last few metres of the climb. That's where he thought he would need the most help and strength. His body was being to tire from the strain already and he would be utterly had it by the time he neared the grassy top of the cliff.

"Commander Jonathan Ford!" one step.

"Lieutenant Tim O'Neill!" another step

"Sensor Chief Miguel Ortiz!" another step but some more bruised fingers from a sharp rock with a knife like edge.

"Lieutenant-Commander Katie Hitchcock!" Katie smiled and was honoured that Lucas was using her name to help him in his quest for survival.

Three, possibly four steps to the top and he was safe again for a few minutes.

"Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg!" Ben scowled a little at the use of his full and correct first name.

"Doctor Kristin Westphalen!" was the third last step. He was tiring badly and his limbs were trembling from the fatigue that was setting in.

The next step, Lucas knew he had to try and make in one last huge attempt. He didn't know how many more he could do. And maybe two was just pushing the limits a little. He thought about the last name he had in his mind. That name usually gave him the feeling of more pride and love than he had ever known in any other person.

Usually that person was the one truly stable one in his entire life. He was always been there, he promised to always be there, no matter what.

Bridger also had a look of pride on his face. All in the Ward Room knew who's name was about to be drawn out of the barrel and announced to the world.

"Captain Nathan Hale Bridger!" Lucas exclaimed loudly as he made his final climb to the top. When he had finished the step, he could feel soft green grass under his bruised and bleeding fingers. He never thought anything could have felt better at the moment.

He could hear the clanking of the chain around his ankles as he pulled himself up onto the top of the cliff and away enough from the edge not to fall back down.

He had made it. He could scarcely believe it. He almost had tears of joy well in his eyes at the effort he had just accomplished. 

* * *

Back aboard the SeaQuest, the crew were hugging each other and crying tears of their own at Lucas's bold efforts. They couldn't have felt more prouder of the teenager at the moment. He had beaten his fear.

The joy was shortly lived though.

Lucas looked about. The sun was still over head. The one thing that struck the teenager was that nobody was about. He couldn't believe his fortune. He had expected that when and if he reached the top, his father Lawrence and Sanderson would have been waiting their to haul him up by his thumbs.

There was nobody in sight. This was his opportunity to escape. Without waiting any further and although still very tired from the climb, he got to his still trembling feet and started to head off in the first direction that came to mind.

He didn't know where he intended to go, only that he had to take his chances and get away if possible. The chains around his legs, prevented him from taking too bigger steps. He could not break into an outright run. But any movement was more than he anticipated.

His ankle started to throb at the extra weight placed upon it as Lucas moved through the grass towards a line of trees. He didn't make it more than half way before he stumbled and fell over in the grass. He had his back towards the cliff and failed to see three figures approach him quickly from behind.

Before Lucas could make it to his feet, he heard his father's words. The words that he had heard echo over and over again in his mind since he was about seven or eight years old.

"Don't you _DARE_ try and run away from me!" Lawrence roared at Lucas. The youth immediately started to tremble at the sight of his fathe standing but a few feet away.

He had been beaten and beaten over the years and constantly reminded that his father's pet hate was the fact that Lucas could out run him. On the last occasion Lucas had received enough punishment to ensure that he knew never to run away from his father again.

Bridger and the others watched with outrage and sorrow that Lucas hadn't been able to get away from his captors. They could see the fear that radiated from the boy as a result of his father's words. Lucas was almost as scared now as he had been on the ledge of the cliff.

"You have _FORGOTTEN_ your lessons, Lucas," Lawrence's voice boomed. "Time that you remembered them, don't you think?"

Lawrence gestured for Sanderson and Campbell to grab an arm each and hold him upright. 

Lucas had tried to get away but his feeble efforts failed miserably. He knew what was about to come...

Bridger and the rest of the crew gasped collectively when they saw Sanderson and Campbell grab Lucas roughly and hold him up in front of his enraged father.

"You leave him alone!" Bridger shouted at the video screen, but unfortunately the person the comment was directed at couldn't hear the Captain.

They all watched as Lawrence made a closed fist with his right hand and drove it full force into Lucas's unprotected stomach.

It took the teenager's breath away at the force and the pain that resulted. He hadn't recovered from the first blow when he felt an equally powerful second, third and fourth punch from his father.

His knees buckled, threatening to take him back to the grass underneath him. It was only the fact that he was being physically restrained that prevented this.

Lawrence continued with the assault on his son. He punched in all over his upper torso, including his rib cage, the shoulders and upper arms. The rain of blows was relentless and there wasn't enough time in between any of them for Lucas to recover from any of them before the next was being felt.

Lucas was barely conscious. His head hung low and his grip on reality was thin due to the pain that was pulsating through his entire body. There wasn't an inch of his body at the moment that didn't hurt in some way.

"You sick _BASTARD_!" Krieg now yelled at Lawrence, shouting and seething with rage at the treatment of his young friend. "We have to do something, Captain!"

Bridger was lost in his own thoughts of helplessness. He had to turn his head away from the assault Lucas was receiving from his father. He wanted to help him more than anything else in the world right now. But he didn't know how to do this. They didn't know where he was.

Kristin put a comforting arm on Bridger's shoulder and Katie did the same to her ex-husband Ben. Both women knew that these two men who normally hid their emotions from the world.

Bridger with his stern outlook and leadership role hid his emotions and feeling by concentrating on his work. Ben, took a different approach and hid his true feelings behind practical jokes and laughter.

At the moment, Bridger didn't feel the leader of anything and Ben didn't feel like making any wisecracks.

The assault on Lucas was also having effect on all of them.  


* * *

Campbell, the man who was helping in Lucas's beating, looked down at the pathetic sight of the teenager who was limp in his grasp. The boy's locks of blond, wet and limp hair falling over his eyes. Something twisted inside him at the young man's torment.

Although he had been a party to Lucas's misery in the past. Lawrence Wolenczak's treatment of his own son somehow affected him more than anything he had been involved with so far. 

Sure Sanderson had taken the boy to hell and back on a couple of occasions now. But this man beating on him now was the boy's own kin. His father to be exact. Didn't the man have any feelings towards his own flesh and blood.

Lawrence was about to land another blow when Campbell spoke his thoughts out loud, "Don't you think he's had enough?" he said simply.

This statement surprised all involved, including the people aboard the SeaQuest. Lucas was the only one who appeared to not have heard the comment.

Lawrence now put his hand down and glared at the man with his face full of anger. Now Campbell was going to be on the receiving end of Lawrence Wolenczak's infamous temper.

"_WHAT _did you say to me?" Lawrence demanded. He stood with hands on his hips, trying to sound more indignant at the remark.

"He's had it," Campbell said as he pointed to the battered and bleeding teenager. 

"This is becoming boring. Let's leave here and get on with the job." He was trying to sound bored with the whole affair to hide his real thoughts on the situation.

Campbell suddenly had to let go of Lucas as he felt Wolenczak's fist hit his face. He put his hands up to the place where the blow struck and felt blood trickling from his nose.

The teenager's body had fallen to the grass and Lucas now appeared to have lost his battle with consciousness. The boy's eyes were closed and his shallow breathing was loud enough for all to hear. Maybe some of those bruised ribs were now cracked or broken.

"Don't you ever question my actions towards my useless good for nothing son," Lawrence said as he grabbed the man gruffly and shouted into his face.

"You might feel like _'Mr Big'_ here," Lawrence yelled. "But I assure you that I am running this show here," and he glared at Sanderson just to make sure they knew their respective roles.

"I decide what will happen and when. You two jokers are just along for the ride," he added.

"You think you're going to push me around, Wolenczak," Campbell spat back. "Then you've got another thing coming. I didn't sign on this operation to play stool pigeon to a couple of cracked eggs. I am only in it for the money and nothing else. As long as I get paid, then I am happy."

Sanderson was now equally as surprised at his sidekick's comment aimed at himself. Maybe Wolenczak was right, maybe Campbell was getting way to soft to continue to be trusted anymore.

"You two can have it all to yourselves," Campbell announced as he resigned his part off the teenager's torment. "I never signed on to watch a couple of grown men kill some kid who was trussed up so he can't defend himself." With his piece said, the man now walked off in a huff.

Wolenczak gave a brief look at Sanderson and witnessed the man's curt nod to signal his agreement to what Lawrence intended.

Without warning, Campbell felt himself being propelled forward by a bullet from the gun that was still smoking in Wolenczak's hand. He had the gun hidden away in his jacket. The man's sightless eyes gazed up at the cloudy sky and would never again see the light of day. They couldn't afford to leave lose ends.

"Consider the debt paid Mr Campbell," Lawrence said without emotion.

The crew on the SeaQuest couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. Maybe the ranks within Lawrence's camp weren't so strong after all. They were prepared to kill their own men to attain their objectives.

Maybe the tenuous relationship between Sanderson and Wolenczak could deteriorate further to enable Lucas to escape or something. But looking at the unconscious teenager laying on the grass, they certainly needed a miracle to happen sometime soon.

Lawrence had briefly ignored his son whilst he dealt with Campbell. But now that was at an end, he didn't continue his assault. He instructed Sanderson to carry the unconscious youth back to their camper van so they could make their way to the next destination.

A few whimpers and moans of pain escaped Lucas's lips as he was tossed over Sanderson's broad shoulders and carted like a sack towards the van. No thought was given to his injuries or his sickly state.

Bridger was hoping that they might be able to make out a license plate or something of the vehicle to help the police. They managed only to see two letters as Sanderson walked past the front of the van, TW the other letters or numbers were obstructed from their view. Bridger made a note of them just in case they could be used later.

Inside the van, Lucas was unceremoniously dumped on a long thing bunk bed and left to his own devices as Sanderson moved up front to drive the van and Lawrence Wolenczak took his seat on the opposite seat up front.

Lawrence back over towards his son on the bed. He went to grab a hold of the small metal badge on his bruised chest. He was going to take it off temporarily to stop the transmission to Bridger and his crew while they made their new plans and drove to their alternative place of hiding. A small smile cross his face as he thought about an appropriate message to leave Lucas's new family and friends:

"You sure that room is ready for our arrival?" he asked Sanderson. "I want to make sure that Mr Kamara knows his job when we get there," Lawrence said.

"You might have beaten the cliff, Lucas," Lawrence said as he gazed down as Lucas's bruised and battered face. "But this next challenge is going to test you even more."

With that sentence completed he terminated the transmission to the SeaQuest crew and took the badge off Lucas's shirt. He would replace it when the next challenge was ready to begin.

* * *

On board the SeaQuest, O'Neill was desperately trying without success to re- establish the severed connection

It would be a very long 10 hours before the SeaQuest crew would be able to see their young friend again.

During this time, O'Neill and the others had been talking to every Motor Vehicle and Motor Home company in the country. They were looking for any clues or persons who might have rented or sold a Camper Van to Sanderson or Wolenczak in the last few days.

They even tried the Department of Motor Vehicle with the two letters from the number plates. They were trying to find a match. It came back that there were approximately 4 000 motor homes in the state with the number plate reading TW?.

They were determined not to give up though. The crew had swallowed their tears and put aside their raw feelings for Lucas while they tried to come up with a solution to help him.

Their discussions were interrupted when the severed connection between them and the teenager was once again established. Once again they couldn't see him straight away. The noise that drew their attention to him was the sound of his hacking cough and raspy breathing.

The kid had coughed and coughed and then stopped to catch his breath. The breathing was laboured and obviously very painful. They could hear him wince with every movement from the bruises and cuts on his shoulders and chest area.

Lucas was trying to take description of his own injuries in his dark prison. He didn't know where he was.

His head ached like the devil at the moment. He tried to massage his temples to ease the pain that throbbed until he couldn't think straight. He could feel every one of this ribs at the moment. He knew that his stomach and chest would be covered in bruises and scratches.

His chest felt incredibly tight and congested and he couldn't be sure but he thought he might he running a slight temperature. The room was surprisingly very warm though and it might just be that which caused his error in diagnosis.

He felt terrible. Lucas started working his way down his body in the darkness noting the feelings of pain and the possible causes as he went. His hands were free again, just like on the cliff but the irons remained in place. They were a little loose around his ankles and the skin had been rubbed off his ankles by the abrasive actions of walking and climbing the cliff.

They stung when touched but they weren't the worst of his injuries. The next injury that caused him some considerable pain and worry was his ankle. Even through the material of his sneaker, he could feel the puffiness and swelling that existed. He just had to hope that the confines of the shoe would prevent any more swelling to the damaged tissue. The ankle didn't feel like it was broken, just badly sprained perhaps.

The SeaQuest crew had been able to hear a few mumblings from Lucas about his various injuries but they hadn't caught all of them.

"Just great," Lucas said aloud to himself, unaware that his friends could hear him

"Kristin won't let me out of bed for a week when they find me,". The last few words caught in his throat and he had to hold back his emotions._ 'If they find me'_ he said in bitterness out loud.

Bridger and the others had a chuckle at the teenager's apparent resolve in the face of adversity. Here he was battered and bruised, but he still had enough nous about him to make a few wisecracks.

They had to choke back tears of their own at his last words. It did seem that the teenager was losing confidence that he would be found. They had to keep trying no matter what. They were all determined not to let their young friend down.

All of their thoughts were rudely interrupted when Lawrence Wolenczak again started to speak to his son.

"Good morning again, Lucas," he said cheerily. "Hope you had enough sleep last night," his words oozing sarcasm.

"What do you want now?" Lucas demanded bitterly as he winced again at sitting up a little more upright.

"Still got that disrespectfulness about you, don't you," Lawrence said. "I think the next challenge will change your attitude in a real hurry."

"Don't worry, there are no more cliffs. You don't have to worry about being alone this time either, Lucas," Wolenczak announced with anticipation.

"You are just in a room. This test should be a snap. All you have to do when I turn on the lights is walk across to the other side of the room. Sounds simple enough doesn't it?" Lawrence explained.

"Oh I forgot to mention, sorry but the air conditioning has been turned off to accommodate your visitors. Enjoy their company now won't you," he said and turned off his receiver.

The room remained dark for a few more minutes.

The dark wasn't too bad. Being in total blackness wasn't something that Lucas exactly relished, but he could cope okay if he had to.

His thoughts about his next challenge were the same as the ones of the SeaQuest crew. There had to be a catch of some sort to this challenge. Lawrence wouldn't have made it simply enough to walk across a room of any description. What was the catch though?

Lucas didn't have to wait long to find out.

The first thing he heard was the noise. When he it reached his ears he froze. He knew exactly what made that sound. He was trying to squish himself up against the wall to get away from it. In the dark he couldn't see it but he didn't need a light to know what surprise his father had in store for him this time.

Bridger and the others had heard something in the room, but couldn't quite work it out. It sounded like some kind of rattle. They would have to hear it again or see it before they could easily identify it.

"NO! It couldn't be!" they all heard Lucas whisper. His voice was full of fear, just as it had been on ledge of the cliff. There seemed to be a little more urgency in it this time though as if he knew what to expect.

The people aboard SeaQuest couldn't see the next move but they certainly heard it.

Lucas was trying to get himself into a standing position to get away from the horror he knew existed on the floor. Without warning he felt the unmistakable slither of one of the room's occupants over his thigh.

It was too much to handle. He let out another blood curdling scream and stood up in a hurry, ignoring the burning pain in his ribs or the ache in his ankle. The thing had actually touched him. Touched his leg.

Suddenly, the lights of the room came on and the SeaQuest crew gasped out loud at the sight on the floor where Lucas was. They all had to close their eyes to the horror that faced the teenager.

Kristin had to hold onto the table in front of her for support. She hated to admit defeat to anything, but Lucas's fear was one of her own. She would have made the same eerie scream had it been her in that room at the moment.

The room was full of snakes. Alive, slithering, of all sizes and colours, but still snakes. They were crawling around on the floor in hundreds. It was as if the room had a living and moving carpet. They were all moving and testing the air with their forked tongues.

Some of them Lucas could identify, like the Cobra, the Rattle Snake and the Death Adder. Some of the other eluded him as to their correct biological name. It didn't really matter at the moment, all of them were probably poisonous.

One drop of venom from most of them and he would be dead in seconds. He doubted his weakened body could have fought off even the smallest amount of toxin at the moment.

He kept trying to back away from the creatures, but the wall behind him prevented his retreat. He looked across the room and could see the door on the other side. Just walk across to the other side of the room his father had said. He of course failed to mention about the floor being alive with deadly snakes.

Even if he started to cross the floor and managed to dodge a few of the deadly creatures, he wouldn't be able to avoid all of them. Sooner or later one or two of them would strike out at him and he would be history.

The mere thought of any of them crawling across his body made him feel slightly faint. He had hated snakes since he was a little kid. A friend of his had been bitten by a snake when they were only children, and didn't survive.

Ever since then he had always taken the approach that a good snake was a dead snake. He wouldn't even go near the reptile section of the Zoo that time Bridger had taken him there. He had never explained why, he just said he wanted to see other things than those disgusting, slimy critters.

Bridger had been remembering that trip to the zoo himself. Suddenly it made perfect sense to him why Lucas had been reluctant to visit the reptiles in the park. How could he have not known about Lucas's phobia towards snakes?

There had been an episode aboard the SeaQuest that Ben, Miguel and Tim were remembering as well. They had tried to play a practical joke on the teenager some months ago. The joke had only ended up backfiring and the teenager was less than amused.

They had all called him a baby for acting like he had. The trick had involved the use of a rubber snake. Now they all knew why he had reacted so badly to their antics. They immediately regretted their previous actions. They never would have tried something like that if they knew about Lucas's fear of snakes.

Lucas looked around for his escape route. There didn't appear to be many options that came to mind straight away.

The room looked so sterile in comparison to the cliff face. The walls were painted white, the only piece of furniture a plastic chair on the other side of the room near the door was white. The environment was too sterile. The air smelted musty as though the room hadn't been used in a long time.

Lucas kept looking around his prison for a way out. He looked up towards the ceiling and noticed something that might give a clue as to where he was.

Running across the entire length of the room was a stainless steel rod. It was bolted just above Lucas's head and ended above the door on the other side. He didn't know where he was but it looked like it might aid him in escaping his hissing nightmare on the floor.

Back on the SeaQuest, Miguel was looking at the room trying to find a clue to where the missing teenager was. He turned around to Kristin and asked her a question:

"Kristin, doesn't that pole across the room seem odd to you?" Ortiz asked the doctor.

Kristin looked at the rod and tried to pick up on what the Cuban man was getting at. She looked at him with a little confusion at first but then an idea dawned on her.

"It looks like a hospital room of some description," she announced excitedly. "That pole looks like the apparatus they use to attach equipment to that will aid disabled people or bed ridden patients to sit upright in a bed." She walked over to the screen and pointed to the rod and continued her theory.

"They attach a chain here," she said pointing to the steel bar and hang something like a triangle or square support on it. The support hangs just above head height over the bed. When a patient wants to sit up a little more, they just grab hold of the support and pull themselves up. Nathan, he must be in a room in some old disused hospital or clinic."

"How many places like that would exist Kristin, and where?. We could be looking for a needle in a haystack. Even if we find a couple of empty hospitals, we might go to the wrong one and we will be back to where we started from," Bridger said deflated.

"I'll go and make some inquiries," she said trying to perk up the Captain's spirits. "It can't hurt to look. Let me know if you see any specific details that might help us tell any of them apart." 

She left the Ward Room to make her calls. Part of her wanted to stay and monitor Lucas's physical and mental state. The other part knew that she had to do all she could to help find his prison.  


* * *

Lucas looked up and the bar across the room. Maybe it was possible to use it to get to the other side of the room without touching the floor. He looked down at his bleeding and torn fingers and knew that he would need some padding of some sort to stop the friction between the cold steel and his injured hands.

The sight that next greeted the SeaQuest crew made them all pale at Lucas's physical torment. 

They had all seen Lawrence treat him like a punching bag. They had heard the small whimpers and grunts of pain. But none of that could prepare them for what they were about to see first hand.

Lucas tore the bottom half of his t-shirt off from around him. He looked at the flesh underneath and tried to block it out of his mind.

The bruises that existed covered every inch of his skin. Some of them were black, some yellow in colour signalling that they were still forming. Some of them had small red veins running through them indicating their depth and severity. The boy must be experiencing some great pain as a result.

Lucas wrapped the torn cloth around the palms of his bleeding hands. He looked back at the sight before him on the floor and shuddered again. One of the large black headed Cobra's stood up amongst the other snakes. His hood was fully expanded and it moved it's head back and forth as though to hypnotize it's victim.

Lucas extended his arms painfully above his head and made a small leap to reach the bar. He grabbed a hold of it and now was suspended in mid air by a mere couple of inches above the poisonous carpet below. The stretching of his arm muscles caused the muscles in his shoulders to tense up and cramp up. Lucas didn't know how long he could hold this position. But the alternative was an option he just couldn't have overcome.

He took his first hand and placed it in front of the other on the bar. He removed the one behind the first and now placed it ahead of the other. The action he told himself was just as if he was scaling the jungle gym at the local park when he was a kid. He had done it hundreds of times in his childhood. It had never been something he thought he would need to save his life one day.

The people in the Ward Room aboard the SeaQuest watched with dread as the teenager made his way painfully and slowly across the room by using the bar like a tight rope at the circus. Any slip in his movements or lax in concentration could see him falling into the slithering nest below.

He had made it a third way across the room when his arms signalled that he needed to stop and take a break. They were ready to fall off and started to tremble from the exertion of holding up his entire body weight.

Just when he thought he might give up from the pain, another Cobra stood up prepared to take a strike at the shadow above it. The Cobra moved to strike and only missed the toe of the teenager's sneaker by a couple of centimetres. That was enough of a scare to get the young man moving again no matter what the pain. His mind just told him to get out of there.

To avoid the second strike by the hissing snake, with all of his might he pulled his legs up towards the ceiling. The snake missed him completely that time, but Lucas was growing tired again and had to put his legs down again.

He felt like he was doing a routine on the rings as a gymnast. All of the power and strength had to come from his upper arms. At the moment, his upper arms felt as though they were being torn off at the sockets. He gritted his teeth and started to make his way across the room some more.

He was only a few feet away from the end when Kristin had walked back into the Ward Room. She was shocked to see the pain staining Lucas's usually handsome face. The boy was grimacing from the pain in his arms.

"I can't hold on much longer," he said aloud to himself. He looked down at the floor and knew that any minute his grip on the bar would release without him being able to prevent it. He would fall amongst the snakes below and that would be the end of Lucas Wolenczak. His father Lawrence would win by default.

"I can't hold on," he repeated once more, his voice giving away his sense of defeat. The pain was becoming excruciating and the limbs themselves were quivering with fatigue. He started coughing again at the burning sensation in his chest. He felt sure that he would hack up a lung or something shortly.

He coughed and coughed until he was almost blue in the face. He slight fever he had caused perspiration to run down from his forehead, dampening his hair and falling into his eyes at times. He couldn't rub the salty water away from his face and it was beginning to sting some of the cuts and abrasions on his face.

Bridger and the other's were forced to watch in dismay at Lucas poor condition. The boy was losing the battle to stay up on the pole. They feared he would indeed fall into the snake crypt below and be bitten by one of the venomous creatures.

"You can do it," Bridger shouted into the Video Screen. He knew that Lucas couldn't possibly hear him. But he just couldn't let the boy slip away from him. He meant too much to him and the rest of the crew. How would they all cope if Lucas didn't return? How would the crew go on without their young friend?

Bridger himself knew that if Lucas died, that would be the fatal blow that would see him leave the Navy for good. He didn't know where he would go or what he would be doing. But he wouldn't be able to walk the corridors of the SeaQuest without hearing the boy's laughter or see his presence everywhere aboard the boat. Hearing and seeing that everyday would be too much to take.

No, if Lucas died, then Bridger knew that part of him would die with him. He would retreat again from the world like he had when Robert and Carol had passed away. This time, he didn't think there would be anything to bring him back from that lonely existence. He would become an empty shell of a man without the a reason to keep on living.  


* * *

Suddenly Bridger was brought out of his thoughts by the rest of the crew shouting at Lucas through the Video Screen. They knew like the Captain that the boy couldn't see or hear them either, but they needed to feel like they were doing something as well.

"Come on Lucas," they all shouted in unison.

"You can do it! Come on Lucas!" The SeaQuest continued the barrage of encouragement until they were all hoarse from the shouting.

Back in the prison full of snakes, Lucas who had been quickly losing hope due to the pain and depression that was setting in, looked up. He thought he had been hearing things. Something in the back of his mind told him that his friends were chanting to him.

He thought he could hear Ben and the Captain shouting "Come on Lucas". Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe it was a trick that your mind played on your before the inevitable end.

Whatever the reason, it seemed to help him a little. Dream or reality he got the same whiff of determination that he had gained whilst on the ledge of the cliff He couldn't let his father win this time either.

Lucas set his face in that mask of cold hard determination again. Using the small surges of adrenaline to forget about the pain and give him the strength he desperately desired to finish the task. He just had to make it too the chair and he could us it to stand on away from the snakes on the floor.

He used a similar ploy this time as on the cliff. He started calling out names to help him finish scaling the pole. He only had about three metres to go. Instead of using names of the crew members aboard the SeaQuest this time. He tried to think of his other friends and use them as a source of inspiration.

"Juliana," he shouted. The crew aboard the boat had heard this name before.

This was the young lady who had Lucas totally smitten over her when he had returned from Node Three. Since then, there would be times when it appeared Lucas was dreaming off into space with a look of tranquillity on his face. The crew didn't need to be told who the teenager was dreaming about.

"Wolfman," he added. This was the on-line name for his best friend Nick.

Lucas's voice was beginning to waver due to the fatigue that was gaining momentum. He was on the verge of collapse and had the scramble the last couple of metres as quick as he could before he lost all of his remaining strength.

When he finally made it over the top of the white plastic chair, he released his grip on the pole and dropped onto the plastic chair. He sat on the chair with his feet lifted up off the floor. He was breathing very hard and trying to catch his breath without coughing again.

He closed his eyes and leant up against the corner of the room and tried to rest for a few minutes. He was only a few feet away from escaping the room, but he guessed the door would be locked anyway. He would need to regain his composure before testing the lock.

He rubbed at his shoulders, trying to massage away the cramps that existed from being suspended in mid air for such a long time. He put an arm protectively around his ribs again and thought of nothing for a moment.

The crew aboard the SeaQuest could see the boy had made it across the room. They were cautiously jubilant that the boy had managed to tackle his latest challenge. The worst wasn't over yet, because he was still inside the room with the snakes, but he was at least safe enough for a moment.

Lucas appeared to have dozed off on the chair with his head resting against the wall. He failed to notice the air conditioning duct cover above his head being lifted up.

Bridger and the others had seen the cover removed but couldn't guess what dangers were now in store for the helpless teenager. The opening made by the missing cover wasn't big enough for a person to fit through.

Suddenly the snakes on the floor started to retreat from their position around Lucas's chair. Something had happened to cause them to move away, but they couldn't work out what.

Lucas didn't appear to notice the snakes moving away from him. His eyes remained closed and unaware as to what was going on around him. He was utterly exhausted from his efforts, the pain and sickness that plagued him. His body was demanding that he rest, even if it was only for a few minutes.  


* * *

Up in the air conditioning ducts above Lucas, a small man of Indian or Pakistani origin was crouched above the hole in the ceiling. The SeaQuest crew couldn't see him, neither could Lucas from where he was.

Everybody aboard the SeaQuest was watching the opening in the ceiling with dread. Something started moving above Lucas's head. It was silent and slow in its movements.

It wasn't until the creature showed it's head that the crew knew why the snakes below had retreated. They all looked on in terror as another snake was lowered down towards the sleeping teenager.

This snake however was like no other snake they had ever seen. It's head was easily a foot across to begin with. Miguel was able to identify it as a Boa Constrictor due to that sort of snake existing in places were he grew up.

This was the biggest Boa Constrictor that he had ever seen though. The snake started to inch it's way down through the air conditioning duct towards Lucas.

Bridger and the others were yelling and screaming through the Video Screen trying to warn the teenager of the impending danger above him. Their shouts fell on deaf ears. Lucas didn't appear to see the danger that threatened him from above.

The snake was under the control of his keeper Mr Kamara above. The animal was receiving distinct instructions as to what it was to do.

The other snakes had retreated from the sheer size of the Boa. Whilst the Boa was not poisonous like some of it's relatives below, it packed an equally powerful ability to subdue it's intended victim.

"Lucas _LOOK OUT_!" Bridger tried to shout to the teenager. Still no response. Lucas's body had briefly given out to its fatigue and pain. The movements of the snake were so quiet that they didn't disturb the boy in the slightest.

The snake was now just above Lucas's blond head when it started to change direction in accordance with it's master's instructions.

The snake moved down over the boy's left shoulder and started working its body over the boy's chest area. It wasn't until it's first coil was completely wrapped around the boy's body that Lucas became aware of the constrictor's presence.

The snake had only begun to apply gentle pressure. It had wrapped it's coil around Lucas's arms so as to pin them to his sides and prevent much of a struggle.

Lucas opened his eyes slowly at first at the pressure he felt around his arms. He was sleepy enough to not realize the danger. With sudden and quick horror though he could see what was causing his arms to feel restrained. His eyes became as big as saucers and he tried to yell out for help. 

His fear was overwhelming at the snake's enormous size. It had to be at least 15 feet in length and a foot thick towards the middle part of it's body.

Lucas did start trying to struggle against his captor. He tried in vain to get his arms free. The snake responded to the feeble efforts by tightening it's coils a little more. Lucas started to find it difficult to breath. His chest was already weak from his tender ribs and the flu he had been experiencing from being left out in the storm. He couldn't draw enough air into his lungs to get another scream out of his mouth.

His body was now upright and very tense. He tried and tried to get the muscles in his arms to resist the pressure from the snake's coils.

The pressure was becoming too great. Lucas couldn't get enough oxygen into his starving lungs and he was beginning to see spots before his eyes. He tried to draw in another small breath and call out for help.

The snake kept it's pressure against his damaged ribs, causing even more pain in Lucas's chest. He couldn't see any way of fighting his nightmare at the moment. It seemed like the snake was going to keep squeezing and squeezing him until there was nothing left.

The tongue of the snake kept flicking out and tasting the stale air in the room. Lucas was trying to suppress the cough in his lungs again. Coughing only deprived his lungs of desperately needed air. He wouldn't be able to stay conscious for much longer but the snake increased the pressure again.

He was going to die here and now...

* * *

Bridger and the crew aboard the SeaQuest watched in horror Lucas's head drooped forward as he lost his hold on consciousness. The boy's body sagged against the back of the white plastic chair.

A small hand gesture from Mr Kamara above in the air-conditioning duct and the Boa Constrictor released it's grip on the teenager. Lucas's body slipped off the chair and ended up in an untidy heap on the floor just a few feet from the locked door.

The snake had coiled itself up and was stationary on the floor underneath the chair. The other snakes in the room did not dare to come any closer to their huge cousin.

The lock on the door gave way and Lawrence Wolenczak walked through to the room. Sanderson was behind him. They both surveyed the scene before them and laughed at the boy's anguish. They had been able to hear his screams of terror before the snake started to strangle Lucas. Slowly the screams had become weaker and weaker as the boy was lost to his panic and fear.

Sanderson bent down and felt for a pulse on Lucas's wrist. It was there. Maybe a little racy, but that was to be expected. The boy had almost been scared to death.

"Well Lucas, you've survived these first two challenges by the smallest of margins," Lawrence Wolenczak said to an unresponsive son. "I guess it's time to see what your really made of. This third and final challenge will test you to the limit."

Sanderson bent down and picked up Lucas's body and carried him outside to the waiting camper van. Once inside, his hands were retied in front of him and the shackles around his ankle were checked to see if they were still intact.

Sanderson noticed that the shackles were beginning to bite into the teenager's skin a little. He could see that the flesh around the top of the boy's foot was horribly swollen and bruised. He walked towards the front of the van again to drive to the next destination.

Lawrence Wolenczak now leant over his son and peered into the camera on his chest.

The crew aboard the SeaQuest had to step back momentarily at the closeness of his face to the screen.

"You all think you have heard him scream," Lawrence began. 

"Believe me you haven't heard anything yet. The next time you see him you had better take careful note. The challenge will be not only for Lucas but for his so called friends and family as well."

This challenge will literally take your's and Lucas's breath away entirely. You haven't begun to hear him scream in absolute terror yet," he terminated the transmission and removed the camera once more until he was ready to announce the next part of his challenge.

"Oh dear God, Nathan," Kristin said genuinely scared for Lucas. She had heard the threats from Lawrence. "What other terrible thing could he possible come up with?" she was on the verge of crying again.

She didn't know how much longer Lucas could survive his father's games of terror. The boy had been worn down both physically and emotionally until there was almost nothing left to give.

Bridger's face was now turning a stony gray. All the way through this he had been made sit and watch Lucas's torment and pain. He too had this overwhelming feeling of utter hopelessness.

Upon hearing the new threat against his son, Bridger somehow felt nothing but contempt towards Lawrence Wolenczak. He had turned his emotions and fear into anger and deadly resolve and the desperate need to help Lucas overcome his greatest fears. 

* * *

"Bridger is never going to figure out where we have hidden his son this time," Sanderson said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I wish I could see the look on all of their faces when they find him dead," Lawrence Wolenczak. "They will never know how close they came to actually finding him."

For the next three-quarters of an hour, Paul Sanderson and Lawrence Wolenczak travelled by private boat to a secret destination to carry out the next part of their plan.

They had gotten rid of the camper van before embarking on the speed boat. When they got to their intended destination, they found rental car waiting for them. Lucas hadn't stirred at all during the journey.

He never smelt the salt air that always kept his senses on high alert. He never felt the sea breeze ruffle his blond hair. He was unaware as to where he was now being taken.

The trio eventually drove to the intended spot. The dirt road they had come on had held their progress up some but they were here now. Lucas was left alone in the car whilst Lawrence and Sanderson undertook some excavation work nearby.

Actually, Sanderson who thought he was an equal player in the whole scheme, found himself doing much of the heavy digging on his own. Lawrence Wolenczak took on a more supervisory role than Sanderson would have liked.

After about two hours of back breaking work, the job was completed. They had dug into the sandy soil and now looked over their cavern with delight. Sanderson climbed back into the hole and placed a small battery operated generator in place.

Attached to the generator was thin P.V.C. tubing and an oxygen mask. A battery operated light source was hooked up to the generator as well. With any luck they should get approximately twenty-four hours out of the batteries.

"Everything's just above ready for the new inhabitant," Sanderson said to Lawrence. "Just have to throw in a water canteen on out way back up before we seal it over."

Lawrence nodded in understanding and gestured for his son Lucas to be hauled out of the car and placed in his awaiting tomb.

The teenager was dumped into the hole. His fever was now a little more obvious, even to his captors. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his face was pale and sickly looking. Most of the bruises on his face were now very noticeable to the naked eye.

Lawrence had reattached the camera to his son and tossed a large full water canteen into the hole beside Lucas's inert body. They both took one look before sealing the youth in his crypt.

They placed a set of large wooden panels over the hole's entrance and then covered the door with surrounding rocks and vegetation. The hole was approximately six feet deep and two metres wide.

When they stood back and looked at the place where the hole should have been, they were quite surprised themselves at how well camouflaged the hole was. Nobody was going to stumble over the teenager by accident that was for sure.

Wolenczak and Sanderson waited in the vehicle at the site before retreating from Lucas's new torture. They would wait until the teenager showed signs of waking up and noticing his surroundings before tell Lucas what the challenge involved. Once they informed the teenager what he had to do to survive, they would leave and let things take their own course as to the outcome.

They didn't have to wait too much longer.

The SeaQuest crew in the Ward Room were starting to become over fatigued. All of them had dark circles under their eyes from the lack of sleep. Truth was not many of them could sleep. They were just too worried about Lucas to let their minds relax enough to fall asleep.

Lucas awoke painfully and slowly at first. He wondered if he was dead. The last thing he remembered was being squeezed by the huge snake until their was nothing left to squeeze. Was this the afterlife?

He didn't think so. Heaven wasn't supposed to hurt so much, was it? What if it was actually the underworld and he was to dwell there forever in the grips of pain? No, even that seemed too simple for his father Lawrence.

Wherever he was, it was pitch black again. So pitch black that he couldn't even see any shadows. Where the heck was he?

The dread weighing heavily on his mind was soon answered and it was only then that he truly believed that he might actually be dead.

He was startled by the whirring of a small motor or engine of some description. When the motor had gained enough momentum, a small dull lantern breathed a pale yellow light into Lucas's new prison.

Lucas looked about his surroundings. He couldn't work out were he was. The strangest thing to him was that the walls seemed to be made of dirt. Where the heck was he. Was he on another mountain? Or in a cave somewhere.

The SeaQuest crew was also trying to work out where he was. The dim yellow light had made it difficult for Lucas to work out his environment. The picture relayed back to the boat via the camera made the task almost impossible for Lucas's family and friends.

Without warning the small motor suddenly stopped and the light was extinguished. It wasn't until this happened that Lucas was truly beginning to become afraid. He could hear his own breath in the stillness of his entombment. There was an eerie silence that was almost deafening.

Lucas and the SeaQuest crew heard the unmistakable voice of Lawrence Wolenczak back over the receiver.

"Hello again, Lucas," Wolenczak said as his voice oozed it's usual calmness and it normal casual overtones when things were in dire straits.

"Guess your wondering were you are," he said. "Well, the good news for you is that this challenge is not really for you. You get to sit this one out."

Lucas didn't have the strength in reserve to stand up and fight back against his father this time.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked in a voice full of fatigue and misery.

The SeaQuest crew could hear the sound of defeat in the boy's tone. Lucas was beginning to lose confidence and hope that he would be rescued from this man.

"Where's that spunk you had before, Lucas? Lawrence said with a laugh. He could also hear the sound of discouragement and tiredness in his son's words.

"Well, I'll get on with it shall I? he asked. Before waiting for a reply he explained his and Sanderson's evil scheme in detail .

"This challenge is for your family and friends aboard the SeaQuest, Lucas," Lawrence said. "You see they don't know where you are. But they have to find you. That motor you hear is a small battery powered generator. It will give you a small amount of fresh air and light every hour for about ten minutes at a time. When the time is up, the light goes out and the oxygen supply is depleted slowly. When the battery runs out, so does time for you. You have about 12 hours of oxygen left "

"Your crew always pride themselves in their abilities," Lawrence continued. So lets see if they can pass the test. The prize at the end if they pass is your life. If they fail, then well ..." he didn't think he needed to finish the question.

"And you know the beauty of this scheme, Lucas?" Lawrence chuckled. "If they don't find you in time. I don't need to go to the expense of digging a grave for you. You're already in one."

Sanderson and Lawrence could be heard laughing together at the end of the detailed plot against Lucas.

The two of them got into the vehicle and could still be heard laughing at the teenager's unfortunate plight as they drove away from Lucas's hidden crypt.

* * *

Back on board the SeaQuest, everybody's mind was a whirl of thoughts. Some of them about how they could find Lucas quickly in order to save his life. Other thoughts were along the lines of dread and fear about not being able to find the helpless teenager in time.

Lucas sat back in his cavern and thought for a moment. Now he knew why the walls had appeared to be made of dirt. They were made of dirt. This was to be his grave. His last resting place. He would never again see his friends and family. He was to die all alone and in great pain. Slowly succumbing to the effects of asphyxiation as his air was slowly cut off from around him.

His couldn't scarcely choke back the tears of frustration that threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't believe that after almost eighteen years, it was to all supposed to end like this. Like a rat trapped in a hole. Nowhere to go. Totally alone. He knew he could not cry, it would only bring on more pain and hurt to his battered and tortured body.

The SeaQuest crew had listened and watched for an hour to see if they could get any clues from the teenager as to his whereabouts. They couldn't see inside the hole without the light, so it was up to Lucas to describe his surroundings to them until the light came back on.

At the moment, the only sound they could hear was Lucas's laboured breathing and soft winces of pain. It broke their hearts to hear him like this. The sure fired, cocky teenager that they had come to know so well was gradually worn down until there was nothing left.

While they were listening, both themselves and Lucas heard the small motor kick in again in the hole, signalling that the oxygen supply in the hole was being changed.

Lucas could barely notice the difference though. The efforts of the small motor were not enough to take away the earthy stench or the dirt tasting air inside the hole.

The light had also come back to life. But it only caused Lucas to squint whilst trying to make out his earthy abode. No sooner had the motor start to whirr into life, then it was shut down again and the tomb was quiet again.

Lucas's shoulders slumped even further. He began to cough again. He put his arm protectively around his ribs as his tried to gather in a breath of stale air. The air seemed to make things worse not better and the coughing fit got harsher and harsher.

When it had finally passed, Lucas just laid back and tried to rejuvenate his body. With exhaustion setting in again, Lucas let the pull of sleep take him. He didn't have the strength to fight unconsciousness either.

"I'm sorry, Captain," he said as he started to close his eyes. "I tried. I really did. But I guess my efforts were just not enough in the end." 

The SeaQuest crew could hear his shallow breathing evening out a little, signalling to them that the teenager had drifted off to sleep again.

Bridger, who had stood in stony silence as Lawrence Wolenczak delivered his final challenge to Lucas and his crew. He kept telling himself that he had to keep strong for Lucas. The boy was beginning to give up on himself, so he had to carry the burden of confidence for the both of them. 

* * *

Paul Sanderson and Lawrence Wolenczak drove away from the hole without giving the teenager inside much more consideration.

The dirt road they were driving on turned very rough after a few miles. It took all of Sanderson's concentration to keep the vehicle on the heavily gouged road. There were potholes and ruts all over the place.

Another car was coming the other way towards them. The headlights of the other vehicle became blinding and caused Sanderson to swerve on his side of the road. The swerve was too much and Sanderson found himself having to over correct his mistake.

The events of the next few minutes seemed to happen in slow motion. The vehicle Sanderson was driving and Wolenczak played passenger overturned. Not just once, but over and over again and again. When the vehicle finally stopped it's parade of somersaults, it rested upon it's roof. Every panel of the car had some sort of damage to it. The fact that it was a car was now barely recognizable.

Inside, Paul Sanderson looked up at the sky with unseeing eyes. He was dead. His neck snapped when the vehicle overturned one too many times. Lawrence Wolenczak on the other hand was still alive. He was unconscious and blood was pouring from a large gash on his head.

Somewhere in the distance, sirens and flashing lights could be seen racing towards the accident scene.  


* * *

On board SeaQuest, Bridger and his crew were all bent over a desk trying to work out the best solution for trying to find Lucas. They all had given the Captain their utmost assurance that they would help wherever necessary. They weren't just going to let the one they loved, to die all alone in a hole somewhere in the dark. They would fight for him until their was not one of them left to fight.

A sound came over the Vid Communicator from headquarters, signalling an incoming transmission from UEO Admiral Bill Noyce.

"How are you, Nathan?" Bill started the conversation. Even after he said it, it didn't sound right. It was just mere chit chat designed to clear the uneasiness that hung in the air.

"As well as can be expected, Bill," Bridger replied with bloodshot eyes and rings of fatigue around his eyes.

Bill could also see the haggard looks on the rest of the crew's faces. He couldn't believe that this was the crew of the mightiest vessel in the oceans. All of them looked like they would fall over with the brush of a feather. He didn't know how long it had been since any of them ate or slept properly. What he was about to tell them wouldn't make the stress any less either.

"Um, Nathan, I have got some news for you all," Noyce managed to stammer unconvincingly.

Nathan and Kristin didn't like the sound of this one bit. This sounded like the conversation they had back on the island where they were told that Sanderson and Wolenczak had escaped. The uneasiness that radiated from Noyce was almost identical as well.

"It is good news, Bill?" Nathan said as closed waiting for the opposite answer that somehow he knew would some.

"Well, yes and no," Bill said. It wasn't the answer they were all expecting. If anything it asked more questions than it answered.

Noyce looked around the room and saw that everyone had his or her eyes on him waiting for the explanation.

"We have found Sanderson and Wolenczak," he said quickly. The words just seemed to tumble out of his mouth without much of a rest in between them.

"You found them?" Nathan said with cautiousness. He doubted that Lawrence Wolenczak or Paul Sanderson for that matter would have just walked into the local police precinct and handed themselves in.

'Your not going to like this either, Nathan," Bill said with defeat in his voice. "We found them alright, but not like you'd expect. They have been in a motor vehicle accident on the island."

Nathan stood with a puzzled look on his face at first. Bill had said they had been in an accident on an island. He couldn't possibly mean his own island could he?

"You mean my island?" Nathan asked as he voiced his thoughts out loud. It had never occurred to him that Sanderson and Lawrence would stoop so low as to hide Lucas right under his nose.

"Yes," Bill replied "But there's more I'm afraid. Paul Sanderson is dead. His neck was broken by the force of the accident. Lawrence Wolenczak on the other hand is still alive. The only problem is that he is in a coma. The doctor's don't know when or if he will ever come around.

"Bill, those two men are the only two people who know where Lucas is hidden. Now you tell me that one is dead and the other cannot talk to tell us where he is," Nathan said in fear for the teenager's safety.

"I'm afraid so, Nathan," Bill said sadly. "If you want I'll organise to meet you at the hospital where Wolenczak is being kept under observation. But don't expect miracles Nathan."

"I'll be there in an hour along with the rest of my crew," Nathan said sternly. He didn't care what sort of condition Lawrence Wolenczak was supposed to be in. He wasn't about to let the only led to Lucas's whereabouts slip through his grasp.

The one clue they had now that had eluded them all through this dreadful exercise had now come to the surface. The island. They now had proof that Lucas was actually hidden away somewhere on the island. It wasn't much to go on.

The island wasn't particularly big, but it might still take some time to search everywhere. Time is something that Lucas was running out of all too quick.

"Get your things together people," he ordered to his fellow crew "We are about to go and talk to the esteemed Doctor Lawrence Wolenczak. He might need some gentle persuasion when it comes to telling us where Lucas is hidden. Anybody care to volunteer for the interrogation?" Maybe this coma thing was just a way of avoiding prosecution for what he had done to Lucas.

He couldn't help but smirk at the reaction he got. He saw flames of anger burn in their eyes. Everyone of them wanted a little time alone with Dr Wolenczak. They would make him talk.

One way or another, they would make him talk. Ben Krieg even slammed his right fist into his left palm to signal the seriousness of his intentions. By the time they were all finished with him, the good Doctor would be singing like a pretty jay bird.

On the way to the hospital, everyone was astutely aware of the time factor. They all kept glancing at their watches, knowing that time and air for Lucas was running out. They needed to find him and quick.

Now that they were away from the SeaQuest they were not able to see the views of the camera underground. Lucas's soft moans of pain and gasping shallow breaths escaped their ears. But their memories of the teenager and their worry for him never escaped their minds for one second.

* * *

During their time in the shuttle from SeaQuest to Up-world, the generator and the light in the tomb with Lucas came on a further three times. Three hours had passed from Lucas's life and he had but eight hours until the generator would run out of power. Eight precious hours.

All of crew stepped out onto the curb at the front entrance to the hospital and were greeted by Admiral Noyce and his party of followers. All of them gave the party a salute and the crew was escorted into a secure waiting room away from the prying eyes of other hospital staff or visitors.

Admiral Noyce briefed them all on Wolenczak's most obvious injuries. It was the ones that they couldn't see that prevented them finding out the important information they needed to extract.

Hospital Staff advised that only one of them would be able to enter the Intensive Care Ward. The choice for everyone was Bridger. They didn't even need to ask the question.

Bridger found himself walking to a very white looking room. There were a plethora of machines and cables attached to the body lying in the bed. Bridger found it almost difficult to walk over to Wolenczak when he first entered the room.

He had often wondered what reaction he would have towards this man if he ever met him face to face. Now that the meeting was becoming reality, the reaction didn't seem so clear to him anymore.

This was the man who had caused more hurt and pain to Lucas than any other person in the world. This was the man that certain members of the SeaQuest crew wanted to tear limb from limb as a result of what he had done to Lucas.

Bridger walked over to the bed. Lawrence Wolenczak remained deeply unconscious. The man's head was swathed in white bandages. It seemed somehow ironic that although this is how Lucas had found himself on numerous occasions due to the actions of this man, now that the other shoe was on the other foot, it hardly seemed to be an equal punishment.

At the moment, with all of the drugs he was receiving and as a result of the actual coma itself, Wolenczak was at least free of pain at the moment. Which was more than he had ever afforded his only son Lucas.

Looking down at the injured man in the bed, it suddenly struck Bridger hard that they were not going to get the required information out of him anytime soon. Bridger slumped in posture as he realised the truth and walked back to the waiting room a rejected man. He was still no closer to finding the missing teenager who so desperately needed him right now.

Everyone else in the waiting room saw the look of disappointment and sorrow on the Captain's face and he walked back through the door. They knew from looking at him that they weren't about to gain any more valuable information from Mr Wolenczak.

They all now sat dejected in the waiting room chairs trying to come up with a plausible solution. They were running out of time to find Lucas.

Admiral Noyce looked at his old tired friend and couldn't forget the look on Bridger's face. Bill had never thought that a relationship only developed over the last four years had grown strong enough to effect his friend this much. It was as though he was losing Carol and Robert all over again but together this time. The pain was in the form of a double serving and the hurt was double also.

Bridger looked up at Noyce with tears dwelling in his eyes, "I don't know what to do Bill. I have tried to think of a solution. But I just can't. I don't want to give up, I can't for Lucas's sake, but I need to find him and quickly. I am pulling in all of my credits on this one Bill. I don't care how much it costs or who I have to bribe to get him back. Just do it."

Noyce looked at his friend and tried to think of a way to help. He went back in his mind at all of his old contacts. Suddenly an idea came to him. He didn't know why he hadn't though of it before, probably because he knew Bridger wouldn't buy a word of it.

All he had to do was convince Nathan that she was worth listening too. Maybe just maybe, after what he had heard Bridger say, he might be willing to listen to anything Bill suggested.

"Um, Nathan, I might know someone who can help," Noyce said nervously. He found himself loosening the collar on his uniformed shirt. The room had become suddenly warmer with seven sets of eyes piecing right through him.

"Who, Bill?" Nathan asked with a ray of hope.

"She's very talented in her field of choice. I know that the scientific world views her abilities as sceptical sometimes. But she has proven her worth may times over in the past Nathan," Bill explained.

Bridger looked at his friend suspiciously. Noyce sounded like he was trying to explain to his parents about his first night out drunk. Something didn't sound quite right.

"I can't make any guarantees, but neither can they" Noyce continued "I say we just give her the benefit of the doubt and listen to what she has to say.

Bridger was sure his friend was talking about someone who was a total kook or weirdo.

"Just spit it out Bill," Nathan said a little impatiently and tired of playing the guess who game.

"Her name is Doctor Wendy Smith. She has a number of degrees in Parapsychology, as well as Biophysics and a Ph D in psychiatry. I could arrange her to meet us here in half an hour if you want, Nathan?" Noyce said hopefully.

"You mean you want us to talk to someone who sees ghosts and claims to be able to tell us if someone is nuts or not," Nathan said sarcastically.

"I know what you are thinking Nathan," Noyce said. "But right now we have nothing else to go on. We need to try something else here."

"Okay, why not," Bridger heard himself saying. He couldn't believe that he was going along with this plan, but as he said, at the moment he was willing to listen to anything. Even a kook.

Noyce was pleased with his persuasion efforts and waited until he was almost out the door before uttering his last comment.

"Oh by the way Nathan," Noyce said with the hint of a smirk on his face "Wendy is a 3rd generation woman in the Navy. Her mother was Admiral Lexington Fisher." He was rewarded with the reaction he was looking for.

Everyone in the room saw Bridger slightly pale at first at the mention of the stranger's name, but then he was turning a brilliant shade of vermillion. They all wondered who this woman was that caused him to turn that colour and send his blood pressure skywards.

Kristin had been equally impressed with the woman's credentials. Biophysics was her field of expertise as well in addition to Medicine. It was also a lifetime passion for her, not shared by many other colleagues.

Noyce left to make the necessary arrangements, but he could be heard laughing all the way down the corridor.

* * *

Bridger could feel everybody in the room looking at him questioningly. They wanted to know about the strange woman and why he blushed such a vibrant shade of red and the mere mention of her name.

There was approximately half and hour before Wendy Smith would be there to talk to them. Bridger secretly wondered if she looked anything like her mother or had any of her mother's personality. He hoped that it was more of the first than the second.

"Somebody we should know about, Captain," Krieg asked for everyone else in the room. Ben had rarely seen his Senior Commanding Officer display such open emotion before in relation to a woman except for his late wife Carol. This was an interesting topic of discussion for the young Lieutenant.

Bridger could see that he wasn't going to be able to brush this subject off easily. "Admiral Lexington Fisher is somebody from my past that I would rather not think of often," he said at first. When it was plain that this was also not enough of an explanation he went on to say:

"Admiral Lexington Fisher and I used to date before I met Carol," Bridger said. He could hear the whistles of surprise from Krieg and Miguel at the admission of such a relationship.

"She was also the Commanding Officer for myself and Bill when we first joined the Navy. In fact she failed me at my first assignment and had me fired," Bridger continued to explain.

"Ouch!" Commander Ford exclaimed. He couldn't help but smirk at the idea that the great Captain Bridger had once been a Navy cadet at the academy. It seemed strange to hear his name and failed and fired in the same sentence.

Bridger didn't disclose any more details about his involvement with Admiral Fisher, but the smirks and grins he got from his Senior crew were enough. He looked over at Kristin and saw the hint of a smile on her face as well.

Their conversation was interrupted with a knock at the door.

Captain Bridger got up and opened the door to the woman standing outside in the corridor. It was Doctor Wendy Smith.

Formal introductions were made by Noyce and Bridger to the rest of the crew, but they seemed hardly necessary. Bridger felt that he had known this woman all of his life somehow. He only had to look at the dark raven hair and soft features that sculptured the young woman's face and he was taken back thirty years.

The pretty young woman was certainly very much like her mother in the looks department. Krieg even fell back into his old persona and tried to come on to the good looking Doctor with a few corny come on lines.

Ford and Ortiz just rolled their eyes at hearing the Lieutenant's poor excuses for attention. They had heard them all too many times before. So had most woman and they failed to work now as they usually did.

Bridger got them all together and tried to get them focusing on finding Lucas again. Another hour had passed since they were at the hospital and they were still no closer to finding the missing teenager.

Wendy looked about the room of spectators and saw the usual scepticism and doubt that she was used to receiving from people who had been told about her unusual abilities.

"I suppose that I should explain about myself first," she said to them.

"You've heard all about my academic achievements, but you haven't heard about the real me," she said with a touch of defensiveness in her voice.

"My first clue to my hidden abilities came when my aunt committed suicide by drowning. I told my father that I was having dreams about my aunt but nobody would believe me. They didn't take me seriously and said I had an over- active imagination. My father had to be hospitalized from the depression that it caused him. That event scared me to death." she paused a minute to gather her breath, but instead of seeing disbelief or repulsion, he saw compassion and understanding from the people listening to her. She decided to continue with her story.

"After a couple of years, around 8 or so I discovered my telepathic abilities for the first time. I would get perfect results on my spelling tests at school, not because I cheated or studied. But rather because I could read the answers to the questions from the teacher's mind. People just called me weird and strange after that. They avoided me and felt repulsed by my abilities and I felt like a freak." she said.

"I attended Chatton Parapsychology Centre with my best friend Laura Fletcher and met a wonderful and understanding man called Clay Marshall. He and I dated for a short time, but the best thing I discovered was his willingness to help people lost like myself." she finished and looked about the room again. The same feeling of understanding that she had received at the Chatton Centre was now present in this room and she was grateful for that. Too many times in her life she entered a room or left it feeling totally alone or treated differently from everybody else because people couldn't or didn't want to listen."

"Do you really think you can help us find, Lucas?" Bridger asked. He wasn't totally convinced in the woman's claim of clairvoyant or telepathic abilities, but she sounded genuine enough in her determination to help those in need.

"Yes I can," Wendy said in a gently tone. She had been warned that the people in this room were at the end of their emotional and physical ropes. She had been briefed about the missing teenager Lucas and told about some of the horrendous things he had been forced to endure at the hands of his own father.

"I will be able to channel my thoughts towards the missing young man and try and describe to you the area around him. If this place is familiar to you like Admiral Noyce says, then maybe you will be able to determine within a few minutes of my description, where the boy is hidden," Wendy explained.

"Do you want me to try?" she asked.

Bridger and the rest of the crew nodded.

Wendy laid back on a sofa bed in the room and tried to relax her mind and body enough for her thoughts to drift away towards Bridger's island.

She started to talk, but it was like she wasn't really with them anymore. She sounded detached from her earthly self as though she was able to move about on the breeze.

"I'm seeing a beach," she started to say in a tone that was devoid of emotion. "I am travelling along a beach of white sand and very clear blue water."

Wendy didn't notice, but Bridger was nodding his head in agreement to every word she used to describe her surroundings. Bridger could picture exactly where she was. He was just hoping that she would soon forget about the scenic part of the adventure and focus on finding Lucas.

"I am travelling away from the beach now towards the tree line. I can see a very rocky hard ground with sparse vegetation and very few trees," she added.

She was about to continue with her description when she had to sit up suddenly from the emotion she felt coming from the island. She was visibly crying and Kristin found herself trying to calm the young woman down in order for her to keep going.

"What is it?" Kristen asked softly. The sudden change of no emotion to crying had them all worried.

"Pain," she said through her tears. "The only thing I can feel at the moment is great pain."

"I think your getting very close," Bridger said trying to encourage the woman to go on. He knew that it was getting difficult for her, but they needed to keep Lucas in focus.

"You said you can feel great pain," he repeated. "What else can you sense?"

"Great depression and the sense of hopelessness and despair," Wendy said. She had swallowed her tears, but she still shuddered at the very black mood that invaded her thoughts.

"Can you describe exactly the area your in?" Kristin asked.

"I can see a large group of rocks around," she paused in mid sentence trying to figure out the strange site before her on the ground. She frowned at what she was seeing and tried to make sense of it. "The ground looks strange here," she said.

"Strange how?" Bridger said with anticipation. He felt that they were truly on the right track. His heart almost skipped at beat at the thought of almost finding Lucas's hiding place.

"The ground seems to have been disturbed here recently," Wendy said. "There are a lot of rocks and leaves in the area, but they look as though they have been put there deliberately."

"Can you sense anything else down underneath those rocks and leaves?" Kristin asked with hope of her own seeping in.

"Yes, I can hear him talking to himself," Dr Smith said.

"Can you repeat what he is saying?" Bridger asked. The doctor nodded although she didn't think any of them wanted to hear what Lucas was talking about. 

* * *

The hours ran into each other for Lucas whilst he was inside the earthly tomb. Due to the slight temperature and the constant claustrophobic feeling that he was experiencing, he could no longer tell how many hours had elapsed since the beginning.

His chest was getting tighter and tighter or was it the walls closing in around him too much, growing closer and closer together? He didn't know anymore nor did he have the strength left to care. The generator switched on again and the light came to life once more.

Emanating it's pale yellow aura into the hole. Lucas just turned his head away. The strain of trying to see in such dim conditions had begun to hurt his eyes. They stung from the exertion and the fatigue that plagued him almost endlessly.

"I don't think they will ever find me," Wendy said aloud as she repeated Lucas's pitiful lines of sorrow to himself. "Might as well have let my father kill me on the cliff or with the snakes. At least I wouldn't have been so alone then." 

All in the room had tears in their eyes at Lucas's distress and solitude. The generator switched off again after ten minutes and the pale yellow light faded into darkness again.

"His breathing is getting much worse," Wendy said to them as she felt the constrictions within his chest. "He can barely draw enough air into his lungs at the moment. If we don't get to him soon, he is going to suffocate whether the generator works or not."

Lucas could feel himself drifting back to sleep. "Maybe this is the last time," Wendy said repeating his words again "Maybe this time I won't wake up in a world of pain or loneliness anymore. Maybe I can find a more peaceful place to go. Somewhere else where the air is cleaner and I don't hurt anymore. My friends and family might not be there with me, but then again I have had to go through most of my life alone up to now anyway."

He coughed himself through another coughing fit and then struggled to keep his eyes open. It was proving too much of an effort and he didn't see the point in resisting anymore. "Goodbye friends. See you in the next life. I'm headed for a new future without you all. Goodbye Captain, I hope you won't be too sad when I go._GOODBYE!_"

Wendy came out of her trance and looked about the room. Everybody was horrified at what Lucas was going through. He really thought that he was dying. That he would never see his friends and family again.

Wendy made herself go back and scan the unfamiliar terrain again to try and find a clue.

She spoke to the people in the room as she went. She found herself back at the disturbed site. She made careful notes of the trees and any noticeable vegetation nearby.

"I see a large funny looking tree of some sort," she said. "The tree looks a little old, the trunk is kind of twisted and leaning over slightly. It looks ready to fall over," Wendy said.

When Bridger heard this description he suddenly grasped at her wrist, "Are you sure?" he asked while still encircling her wrist. He didn't realize that he was beginning to apply a little too much pressure to the area with his excitement.

Wendy manage to wrestle her hand away and confirmed what she was saying was actually correct.

"Bill, how soon can you have a excavation crew and chopper ready?" Nathan asked with anticipation.

"The team and chopper are waiting on the roof as we speak Nathan," Bill said with a grin. He had made sure that everything the UEO Captain requested would be available at a moment's notice. He spoke into his Comm Link with the people standing by on the roof and told them to move into position.

"Anybody coming with me?" Nathan asked the rest of the people in the room.

"Are you kidding, Captain?" Krieg asked. "You just try and hold us back." All of them were now standing on their feet and on full alert for the next order. All the feeling of tiredness and hopelessness was washed away in an instant.

All of them scrambled aboard the waiting UEO helicopter and flew off at the Captain's order. He was directing the pilot as they went were to land. 

* * *

Less than half an hour later, the helicopter had to set down on the beach. The area where they thought they would find the hole was too rocky to land the helicopter safely.

In their excitement to get to Lucas, they had almost over run the entire area and had to back track over a kilometre to the correct spot.

A medical team had been made ready on the beach and one back at the hospital once Lucas was retrieved from his crypt.

"Here it is," Ford exclaimed loudly to the rest of the team as he saw the rock and leaves just like Wendy Smith had been able to describe to them. It was exactly how she said it was.

Something told him in the back of his mind that he would never doubt what the woman said again. She was correct in every detail, even down to the parts that weren't so obvious to the naked eye at first. He just hoped that she was correct about Lucas being underneath.

Bridger worked at the rocks and leaves like a man possessed. He threw rocks away as though they were paper toys, although they probably actually weighed over 10 kilos each. He stopped digging all of a sudden as his fingers tips grated against something other than earth.

He could scarcely keep his heart inside his chest as he tried to pull the heavy wooden doors apart. It wasn't until he grunted and groaned with exertion that he admitted he might need a little more help this time. Commander Ford, Ben Krieg, Tim O'Neill and Miguel Ortiz all took one side each of the doors and pulled them apart.

The crack between them was only narrow to begin with so it failed to give them an indication at first whether or not the teenager was actually down there. As the gap started to widen, a small amount of light was forced into the darkened pit.

The site that greeted them all shattered their hearts into a million pieces. Lucas was in there alright. They would not forget this image for a long time to come.

Lucas was half laying down half sitting up against the wall of the grave like hole. He was either or asleep or unconscious. The latter was probably more the right one.

He showed no signs of revival from the sunlight that now bathed his face from above. His skin was a sickly white colour and his chest was rising with an irregular breathing pattern.

Bridger was stunned at Lucas's condition at first, but then wasted no time about jumping into the hole and kneeling beside the unconscious teenager. He knew he was alive, but he put his hand to the boy's throat to feel the constant throb of his heart beat. It sighed in relief when he felt it. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was constant.

Bridger tried to feel over the boy's body to locate all of his injuries. He could hear his chest and felt the slight warmth from his brow, but that was something that couldn't be dealt with down here in this hole. Those sort of symptoms would have to wait until they were ferried back to the hospital.

Every now and then as he went about his administrations, he would glance at the boy's face to detect any signs of him coming around.

He could see some bruises underneath his shirt on his chest and upper arms. These were probably a combination effect from his father's beating and the crushing pressure of the Boa Constrictor's coils around him.

The people up top were beginning to get impatient and hoped that Bridger would just bring the boy out of the hole and get him to professional help. As much as Bridger wanted this for Lucas he was aptly aware that he needed to assess the boy's injuries in case any of them were more serious than they appeared to be. He didn't want to try and move him and then find out that they had caused and further and unnecessary damage.

The other part of Bridger just needed to reach out and touch him before he was taken away from him again. That was the reason for needing to feel his pulse and the glances to see if the boy was waking up. He really needed to know that the boy was okay. He needed to tell the boy that help was here now and he didn't need to be afraid anymore.

Bridger could see Lucas's ankle needed attention as well, but that would also need more medical treatment than he could provide down here.

The boy still showed no signs of regaining consciousness. He knew that he had to get him out of here and to help. He placed his right arm underneath the boy's bent knees and the other behind his back and lifted him into his arms.

The boy was painfully thin. He felt as though he hadn't eaten anything in a long time. Bridger could feel the outline of Lucas's ribcage against his forearm as he carried the unconscious teenager.

The next part was going to be a little tricky. Ben and Commander Ford knelt beside the rim of the hole and tried to grab a hold of the boy as Bridger awkwardly passed him upwards. They had almost dropped him in the attempt, but thankfully Lucas didn't stir in the slightest at being hauled and pulled like a sack of grain.

Once Ben and Jonathan had him on top of the hole, Kristin was beside Lucas taking her own mental notes about his injuries and physical condition. She needed to assess if he could be handle a helicopter ride back to the hospital.

She was a little worried about the swelling in his ankle and his chest sounded even worse now she was actually listening so close. But she decided on the side of caution and gave the okay for Lucas to be laid on a stretcher and placed in the helicopter.

Miguel and Tim offered the Captain a hand out of the hole and it was recovered over with the wooden doors to prevent any body else falling into it. Bridger made himself a mental note to have some of the rescue crew come back tomorrow with a few loads of soil to refill the gap permanently.

Bridger jumped into the helicopter and held Lucas's hand all the way back to the hospital roof. 

* * *

The helicopter had barely landed on the rooftop when the stretcher was whisked inside by four hospital orderly dressed in white uniforms.

Lucas was taken to a private room that had been arranged by Admiral Noyce to be properly examined by a team of doctors and Kristin.

The rest of the crew including a protesting Ben had been ushered back into the waiting room they had occupied earlier. To Bridger's utter surprise, Noyce had instructed the medical staff that the Captain could come and go as he pleased. Bridger remained by Lucas's side the whole time.

The first thing the medical team did was to remove all of Lucas's outer clothes except for his underclothes. It was only after they did this that the full extent of his punishment could be seen. Dark bruises and scratches marred every inch of his upper body. There were bruises on bruises.

The medical team hadn't been told about Lucas's ordeal but all of them wondered what had happened to the boy to make him suffer like this.

Bridger had to turn his eyes away on a number of occasions from the torture that he could see on the boy's body. The anger that had been quelled by the boy's rescue was now starting to gather strength again when he saw the damage. He could barely contain himself from going off in a fit of rage at Lawrence Wolenczak and Paul Sanderson right in front of everybody in the room.

The sneaker on Lucas's swollen foot had to be cut gently away. The swelling had become too great and wouldn't allow removal of the footwear without causing considerable discomfort.

The doctor's were a little weary at first about administering any sort of pain killers or sedatives until the full extent of the injuries could be assessed. The skin around the ankle was black and an angry looking purple where the shoe had been.

The resident physician ordered full x-rays of Lucas's injured foot and lungs before they did any other administrations. They thought these would be done quickly and with little fuss due to the boy still being unconscious.

When the x-rays were available the results were a little more encouraging then they first anticipated. The foot was very badly swollen and sprained, but not broken. The teenager would probably be on crutches for the best part of two weeks just to give his ankle the chance to heal properly before any weight was applied to it.

The lungs were also promising. There was definitely a chest infection present, but with a good dose of antibiotics it was possible to combat this problem within a few days.

Lucas's bruised ribs were examined very carefully and although the doctor could find two small cracks, thankfully that was the extent of the damage. Unfortunately though they would have to bind the ribs quite tightly to keep them immobile during the first week or so of recovery. They would be painful for some time.

These and the pain he would be experiencing from his healing foot in a few days would probably see him on a steady course of pain killers for the next three weeks, even longer if they were not healed entirely by the time he was ready to go back aboard SeaQuest.

Bridger was worried about the fact that Lucas was still unconscious. The doctor's were not too concerned though. By looking at the physical picture the advised that it was only natural for the boy to be still out of it.

They would not be surprised if he didn't wake up properly until sometime late tomorrow afternoon. The boy was exhausted both physically and mentally and his body was demanding rest to counteract the pain and fatigue it felt within him.

After about two hours, Lucas's ankle had ribs had been bandaged. His fingers had some antiseptic cream rubbed into them and he was given a heavy dose of antibiotics to start fighting the chest infection in his lungs. There was nothing more that could be done right now.

The rest of the crew saw Bridger and Kristin emerge from the emergency room, shortly followed by two hospital orderlies wheeling a stretcher which contained the sleeping teenager.

The boy had been dressed in a hospital gown, but it was very obvious to see the heavy bandaging through the thin cotton material.

Katie held one arm on her impulsive husband before he flew of the handle at somebody for Lucas being in this condition. Ben could barely stand to see his young best friend like this.

Bridger was looking very tired. He assured Kristin and Admiral Noyce that he wanted to sit with the boy until he woke up.

Lucas was admitted to a private room fully funded by Bridger. UEO promised to pick up the tab of the rescue helicopter but refused to give the healing teenager any privacy in his own room. Bridger made sure that he would have all the privacy he needed. As he had to Admiral Noyce, he didn't care how much it cost, so long as the boy was going to be alright.

Kristin waited for about half an hour with the rest of the crew while Lucas was being settled in his room with the Captain by his side. She explained as gently as she could about the extent of Lucas's injuries.

She saw the anger burning in their eyes directed towards Lawrence Wolenczak, but decided on a different approach to get them all involved. She told them that he would need some help even once they went back to the boat and she wanted someone with him during his recovery in the hospital. All of them put there hand up instantly at the question. They all needed to feel as though they were doing their part, no matter how small in the scheme of things.

Kristin excused herself from the crew and went to check on Nathan and Lucas. She smiled to herself as she saw the Captain curled up asleep on the makeshift bed that had been placed beside Lucas's hospital bed. Lucas was still asleep too. She thought the pair of them sleeping side by side was the best sight she had seen all week. She thanked the Lord above that they were at least given the opportunity.

She went back to the waiting room and insisted that they all get some much needed rest.

It wasn't until the late the next morning that any of them started to stir.  


* * *

Lucas had remained deeply asleep all night as did the Captain. They were all bone weary and awaken at any noise outside in the hospital corridor.

Lucas's eyes started to flicker slightly. He was trying to wake up. He tried to gauge where he was without opening his eyes. He waited for the pain to hit his body like it had on the last three occasions. It didn't come. There was a dull ache in his foot and his chest still felt a little tight, but it definitely felt a whole lot better than the last time.

He decided to take a gamble and open his eyes and see where he was for real. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him again at first. He thought he had awoken in a hospital room.

It wasn't until he looked around the room and saw the dishevelled figure of the Captain slumped asleep in a bed beside him that he thought he might actually be where his eyes were telling him.

Lucas tried to sit up in the bed a little to get a better look. The dull ache in his ribs turned into a stab stabbing and he protectively put his arm around his ribs again, letting out of soft moan of pain. He was surprised to find soft material under his fingertips. He looked down and saw white linen bandages around his chest. He really was in a hospital.

Bridger although seemingly dead to the world, had heard the soft gasp of pain that escaped Lucas's lips. He was up in an instant and looking at the teenager to see if he was alright. He was afraid when he saw tears threatening to spill down the young man's face.

"Lucas, what's wrong, are you in pain?" Bridger said in a hurry. The words seemed to tumble out of his mouth all tied together. "You want me to get a doctor?"

Lucas shook his blond head and grasped Bridger's upper arm to prevent him leaving the room.

"Don't go," he managed to say through his dry lips. Any bravery he might have been attempted to show quickly dissolved when Bridger's grasp on his arm turned into an embrace. He was truly home and away from. He rested his head on Bridger's shoulder, too afraid to let go and find that his nightmare hadn't truly ended.

Bridger held onto the trembling teenager tighter. He didn't want to go just yet.

"Am I really here?" Lucas asked cautiously. He still found it difficult to believe that he had been rescued from his hellish ride. 

Lucas still had the feeling that he wasn't safe for some reason. He didn't know why. He heard the words his family and friends said in comfort. But he still could shake that uneasy feeling that something was still amiss.

"Yes... yes you are," Bridger said softly. "And I promise that nothing will ever happen to you like that again Lucas."

Lucas didn't have an answer to this comment. He knew the Captain meant his words, but he found it hard to take them for face value after all that had happened.

Later that afternoon, the crew of the SeaQuest had been allowed to visit their recuperating member two at a time. Lucas had been very happy to see them all although he felt very uncomfortable when they got a full view of his injuries.

The doctors had visited the teenager and told him about his various injuries and how long they anticipated his stay in the hospital. He didn't like the estimation given and was trying to work on shorting the time already so he could go back to the SeaQuest were he would truly be safe for a while.

Ben Krieg had been in the same room when the Lucas was trying to persuade the doctors and Kristin to let him go earlier. 

He would regret his next sentence for a long time to come: "I don't blame you for wanting to get out Lucas. If I was in the same hospital as that scumbag." The Lieutenant realised what he was saying half way through saying it but it was too late.

The perceptive teenager had already heard the words. Ben got a scowling look from everybody in the room except Lucas. Katie even elbowed him deliberately in the ribs for his slip out. But the deed was done now.

The teenager just froze. He looked at the Captain for an explanation to Krieg's outburst.

"Tell me the truth," he whispered. The stern, no nonsense look on his face never faulted once. Bridger ushered the other visitors out of the room and sighed a little at the explanation he found himself having to give the teenager.

Ben had tried to utter words of apology on his way out for upsetting Lucas. Bridger had gestured to him that it was alright. He wasn't really sore at the Lieutenant, the truth had to come out eventually. He just wished there had been more time for Lucas to heal emotionally first.

"What did he mean?" Lucas asked in a voice almost inaudible. His voice was reminding him of his earlier thoughts of something still lurking the corridors. His mind was screaming to him that he had been right the first time.

"Lucas," he tried to start the conversation off as gently as he could. "I haven't told you this because I didn't think you were strong enough physically to handle it yet." Bridger sighed loudly and continued, no matter how he approached it there was no getting around it.

"You father is in the Intensive Care Ward of this hospital," he said. 

The reaction was immediate with the teenager putting his hand to his mouth to hide the inevitable scream. He was trying to get out of the bed and run for his life out of the room. His ribs were digging in painfully and his foot was throbbing too, but at the moment, he didn't care. His only thought was to run away as fast and as far as he could to get away from his father.

Bridger managed to grab a hold of the struggling teenager before he made it to the door but it wasn't easy holding onto the terrified boy. He tried to whisper quiet and soothing words into his ear to calm him down.

"Don't worry Lucas, he can't get to you. He's in a deep coma and the doctor's don't know if he will ever survive it," Bridger said. "He can't hurt you anymore."

Lucas stopped struggling mainly because his feeble strength had come to an end. He had fought like a tiger, but he was now very tired again.

Bridger felt the teenager's body relax slightly in defeat and lowered him back onto the bed.

"I'm tired now, I want to go to sleep," Lucas said in an uninterested tone. It was almost as if he hadn't heard about his father at all. But Bridger knew better. He knew that this display of totally clamming up was Lucas's way of saying he was angry and upset.

Bridger felt like he was the bad guy here. He went out to the waiting room to discuss Lucas's sudden silence with Kristin.

Kristin had listened intently before interrupting. She too was worried about Lucas's emotional state but she told the Captain to give him some space to think about it for himself for a little while.

"I know your hurting too Nathan, but lets go down and get a meal at the cafeteria and see how he is then," Kristen suggested. "Maybe after a little while, he will be willing to listen to us a bit more."

Nathan looked back at the closed door to Lucas's room and reluctantly agreed. He hoped the teenager was in a better frame of mind when he came back. Maybe the boy was just tired like he said and needed to rest for a while. Somehow he was trying to make up excuses for Lucas's strange behaviour.  


* * *

Back inside the room, Lucas was far from sleep. The same words kept going around and around in his head. He knew that it wasn't Bridger's fault that he was in the same hospital as his father. He didn't even know why his father was in the hospital. He didn't want to know.

He started to tremble all over at the thought of being in the same place as his father again. The Captain had said that he was in a coma and might not survive, but that made little difference in Lucas's tortured mind. Lawrence had always found a way to get to him in the past. Even on SeaQuest where he thought he was the safest.

He gingerly got up from the bed and stood up for a minute waiting for the unsteadiness in his limbs to subside. He grabbed a blue robe from a chair beside his bed and tied it over his hospital gown. He saw a pair of crutches leaning against a wall in the corner but thought it best to leave them be.

His foot still hurting something terrible when he stood on it and placed any added weight on it, but the crutches would only cause him to be more ungainly than he was at the moment. He would only be gone a few minutes anyway. He needed to find out for himself if what he heard was true.

The teenager had heard the Captain and Kristen leave outside his room a few minutes ago, so this was the perfect opportunity before somebody come into the room to keep an eye on him.

He played it safe at first and opened the door quietly and closed it behind him. There were a few hospital staff people in the corridor but there were no instructions left that he couldn't leave his room, so the orderlies and nurses just smiled as they walked past him.

He looked up at the signage above his head and saw a sign that directed him to the Intensive Care Ward. It wasn't very far from his own room and he could take a look and come back before it was even noticed that he was gone.

Lucas took his first shaky steps towards the ICU. The pain wasn't so bad in his foot he lied to himself. Truth be known, it was hurting like hell and his ribs felt like they were on fire too.

When he neared the nurse's station outside the Intensive Care Ward, he tried to come up with a plausible excuse for being there. A number of ideas ran through his brain, but then he thought of the normal criteria for visitors to such a restricted area. Normally it had to be next of kin. He was next of kin. Maybe reluctantly, but nonetheless next of kin.

He approached the nurse as the desk and explained who he was. She had no instructions about his father Lawrence Wolenczak that prevented any next of kin visitors. He was under observation almost all of the time and wasn't about to go anywhere in a hurry anyway.

She smiled at the handsome young man claiming to be his son and gave him permission to enter the room.

Lawrence Wolenczak was in a private room with every machine known to modern medicine hooked up to him. They kept his heart pumping and his lungs breathing air.

He was almost afraid to walk into the same room at first. But something in the back of his mind told him that he needed to give himself peace of mind and make sure that he was indeed in a coma. In a come meant that he couldn't talk and throw insults or threats at him. It meant that he had no movement in his arms or legs to strike out and punch or hurt him again.

He really needed to make sure. 

* * *

Back outside Lucas's own room, Bridger and Kristin were just returning from the cafeteria. They were trying to judge whether or not Lucas had had enough time to calm down. Maybe he was already asleep.

Bridger almost had a heart attack on the spot when he opened the door and found the room empty. He noted that the blue robe from the chair was missing. The crutches were still against the wall.

"Where does that stupid kid think he's going in his condition?" Bridger said with more fear than anger in his voice. He was a little annoyed but it was mainly directed at himself for leaving the vulnerable teenager alone.

He suddenly looked at Kristin and had a horrible thought, "Oh you don't think he would do you?"

Kristin looked at Bridger with fear of his own. Both of them had assumed that Lucas was too traumatized from his ordeal to consider going to see Lawrence in the Intensive Care Unit.

Neither of them wanted to know what it might do to him mentally or emotionally to see his father like that. They raced out of the room and towards the Intensive Care Unit after the teenager.

They got there panting from their running. Lucas was just outside the doorway to his father's room. He still needed to built up his courage a bit before going in. He saw Bridger and Kristin standing there worried out him but tried to give them an encouraging smile.

"Lucas are you alright?" Bridger asked the scared teenager.

"No, but I really need to do this. It won't truly be over until I see for myself," he said trying to quell the mix of emotions that were swelling inside of him. "Please understand."

Bridger and Kristin didn't really think Lucas knew what he wanted right now, but they were willing to accept his words and let him do this on his own.

"We'll be right outside if you need us," Bridger said. Lucas looked back at them and smiled at them again. It quickly faded as he turned to walk into the light filled room.

Lucas walked towards the bed in the room. The rails on the bed were in an upright position so as the occupant wouldn't tumble out in the night. He could see that his father seemed to be sleeping.

It took all of his courage just to walk up and stand beside the bed. He kept telling himself that his father couldn't wake up and hurt him anymore. He glanced at the various monitors and machines around the bed. Some of them he knew what they did, other's he didn't.

He looked down at the pale face of his father. Until a day or two ago, he hadn't seen the man this still up close in a long time. Lawrence really did look like he was sleeping. There was a drip inserted in the back of his right hand that attached to a IV bag on a stand not far from the bed.

Without thinking about it, Lucas placed his hand on the cold steel frame of the bed. He was too busy sorting out his feelings about this man to see anything out of the ordinary.

Lucas had to clamp down on the scream in his throat when Lawrence Wolenczak's hand snaked out and grabbed a hold of his bandaged wrist. He almost fainted on the spot from the fear that went through him. They had told him that he was in a coma. Was he waking up just now.

Fear of the unknown made Lucas look towards his father's face while he struggled to free his wrist. From where he was in the room,. the people outside were blissfully unaware of what was going on.

Lucas looked at his father's face and saw those black as coal eyes looking back at him with flames burning in their centres.

Lucas took one mighty pull and managed to yank his hand free. He rubbed at the tender skin underneath the bandage where the pressure had been applied.

When he looked back at his father, the eyes were closed as they had been when he first walked in the room. His father's arm was once again laying back over his chest well away from the edge of the bed.

Lucas took a step back trying to comprehend what he had just seen and felt.

Had his father really woken up and looked and him. Had he really grabbed a hold of his wrist? To look at him now you won't have thought it possible. They had told him that his father might never wake up. Could they have been wrong?

Lucas tried to compose himself as best he could before walking back out to Bridger and Kristin.

When he walked back out Bridger and Kristin immediately went to his side as they noticed the paleness of the young man. Both of them had just thought the visit was too much for him to handle this close after being rescued.

As he found himself being guided back to his own room he stole one more glance back towards his father's room.

Had it really happened? ...

THE END

HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THIS EPIC STORY

JULES


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